CHEN WENWEI (MEW)
@mewcww
Thresholds Act 7
Photography*
Thresholds Act 10
Photography*
About the Artist
“I use photography as a speculative and investigative language to examine how space is perceived, inhabited, and
assigned authority. My practice is informed by a dual history of systemic editorial design and a childhood oriented toward physical touch rather than abstraction. This tension has evolved into a mode of inquiry grounded in detachment,
repetition, and delayed judgment.
I treat the camera not as a tool for capturing the immediate, but as an instrument of measurement and construction.
Drawing from the phenomenological insights of The Eyes of the Skin, I reject purely retinal imagery in favor of a haptic
photographic method. For me, visibility is not an evenly distributed attribute but a differential produced by physical
effort, proximity, and time.
Brutalism serves as both the material site and the ethical ground for this inquiry. I am drawn to its material honesty
and its resistance to easy visual consumption, treating it as a site of physical resistance where scale and texture demand a bodily investment from the observer. Whether using a handheld flashlight to audit the thresholds of visibility
within concrete structures or employing AI to excavate the uncanny within decaying surfaces, I am investigating the
point where existence either enters or eludes intersubjective reality.“
Education
2022 - 2024
Toronto, Canada Ontario College of Art and Design University
Interdisciplinary Master’s in Art, Design and Media (Master of Design)
2017 - 2021
Sydney, Australia University of New South Wales
Bachelor of Media Arts (Honours)
Gallery Representation
2025 - 2028
Foshan, China Collaborative Representation Art On Space Gallery
Archived Collection
2021
Graphic Identities Archived by Powerhouse Museum of Sydney
Award & Honor
2025
Embracing the Inexplicable: Act 1 The Impermanence Finalist of Artiver AI Awards
Media Feature
2018 - Now
2018 - Now PhotoVogue, BlogTO, DesignTO Festival, Vanquish Japan, 17:23 Magazine, Juzi Magazine, Selin
Magazine, Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, The PowerHouse Museum of Sydney
Selected Exhibition
2025.12
Guangzhou, China - Moordn Art Fair Group Showcase
Presented by Art On Space
Selected work from Embracing the Inexplicable
2025.05
Chongqing, China - Independent & Image Group Exhibition
Urban Landscape
(Un)titled Photography Works
2025.05
Shanghai, China - Photofair Shanghai Group Showcase
Body Without Organs
Embracing the Inexplicable: Act 3, Scene 2 & 3
2025.03
Chengdu, China - Huan Photism Group Exhibition
Who is Fabricating the Past?
Embracing the Inexplicable: Act 3, Scene 6 & 8
2025.03
Birmingham, United Kingdom - RBSA Gallery Group Exhibition
RBSA Photography Award Prize 2025
Embracing the Inexplicable: Act 1 The Impermanence
2024.04
Toronto, Canada - OCADU Graduate Gallery Solo Exhibition by Raha Fard
Embodiment of the Intertwined Art Direction by Chen Wenwei
The Performing Series: Evanescence
2024.03
Toronto, Canada - OCADU Graduate Gallery Solo Exhibition
Embracing the Inexplicable
Embracing the Inexplicable
2021.10
Sydney, Australia - The PowerHouse Museum Group Exhibition
2021 Sydney Design Week
Graphic Identities
All artworks and images remain the property of their respective artists.
Images may not be shown to scale. Actual dimensions are indicated below each artwork.
*Dimensions may vary upon inquiry
Artwork has been curated by the art director and does not necessarily represent the artist’s intended layout.