BANK is proud to present selected works from "The Bearable & Bees" by Chen Zhe at Art Brussels 2018. "The Bearable & Bees" is a two-part project that documents, researches and explores the psychological labyrinth around self-inflicted harm. "The Bearable" records the artist’s own dark, though occasionally euphoric, history of self-affliction while in "Bees", photography becomes a vehicle of exchange between the artist and the others. Identifying the physical self-destruction of her subjects as an act of spiritual cleansing, Chen Zhe expanded her photographic observations with a collection of letters, dairy entries, online chat histories, quote fragments and scribbles. Referring to bees as they sting to self-defense, leaving ‘their lives behind them in the wound’ (Virgil, "The Georgics"), the project is Chen Zhe's closing statement of her long contemplation on the disquieted souls, the wounded bodies and the elusive link between the two.
"The Bearable & Bees" has been exhibited worldwide and won numerous awards such as Inge Morath Award, Three Shadows Photography Award, Flash Forward Emerging Photographer, Xitek New Talent Award and Photographer of the Year, Lianzhou Photography Festival etc. "The Bearable & Bees" is also featured in TV documentaries produced by ARTE, France/Germany; NHK WORLD, Japan and Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, China. The publication "Bees & The Bearable" was awarded the Best Photobook of the Year by Kassel Fotobookfestival in 2016.
