Erwin Olaf, Maleonn: Story Smuggler

In September, Danysz gallery is honored to present the duo show "Story smuggler" with Chinese artist Maleonn and famous Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf. Maleonn explains, "The title comes from one of the words of John Berger. In his biographical documentary The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger, he mentioned his own experience as an infantry during the Second World War. As a clerk, he transcribed oral stories about warfare into letters for soldiers who were unfamiliar with writing. Evaluating himself, John Berger said, "In some sense, I?ve always been doing this afterwards, I retell others' stories to a different bunch of listeners. For me, a story-teller is like a passer-by smuggling across the border"." Maleonn and Erwin Olaf are like two "story smugglers". In this exhibition, through two brand new art series that have never been exhibited before, Maleonn presents a fable imaged on the nostalgia of traditional China. In this show Maleonn is not only showing his works, he is also the curator, selecting Erwin Olaf's artworks. He brings together different works from several series Shanghai and Palm Spring series especially for the most recent ones, and thus creates a story echoing his work. The exhibition is also an opportunity to create a dialogue between East and West through these two talented artists.