Photography, etymologically derived from the Greek terms photos (light) and graphé (drawing or writing), translates as “drawing with light.” At its core, photography is the process of inscribing images through the manipulation of light, time, and a medium—whether film, a digital sensor, or light-sensitive paper—for both expression and documentation. Over time, photography has evolved into a critical site of inquiry, intersecting artistic, cultural, and social domains.

Drawing With Light brings together 20 works by 17 artists, offering a rich exploration of the evolution and conceptual possibilities of photographic practices from the 1960s to the present. The exhibition engages with the recent resurgence of interest in the materiality of photography, its inherent limitations in reproduction, and the evolving function of images in contemporary society. While some works interrogate various image-making techniques, others reflect on how socio-cultural shifts shape artistic production. The exhibition further examines the role of photography in constructing memory, knowledge, and formal representation within art history.

The exhibition includes works by prominent Chinese and international artists such as Yang Fudong, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Todd Gray, Zheng Guogu, Liu Wei, Rodrigo Valenzuela, Lotus Laurie Kang, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Wolfgang Tillmans, Sky Hopinka, and Inga Svala Thorsdottir & Wu Shanzhuan. These works span diverse modes of practice—from a large-scale installation with light-sensitive films to intimate snapshots of everyday objects confined within a small domestic space, from a performative depiction of the photographic studio to unsettling mise-en-scènes that reflect existential unease.