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    CONTEMPORARY BY ANGELA LI is proud to present the new works of photographer Peter Steinhauer in his solo exhibition “Metamorphosis - New Cocoon works by Peter Steinhauer”.

    Since  1993,  Peter  has  been  documenting  the  many  facets  of  Asian  culture.  His  Cocoon  series  is  somewhat  an  artistic  departure  from  his  previous  works  as  this  project  is  predominately  photographed  and  printed in colour.

    Upon  Peter’s  first  visit  to  Hong  Kong  in  January  of  1994,  he  arrived  at  the  old  Kai  Tak  International  Airport,  on  exiting  via  taxi  he  noticed  a  very  large  structure  that  was  surrounded  in  yellow  material  on  the  bottom half and the top half was encapsulated  in  bamboo.  He  was  amazed  by  the  monumental  size  of  this  structure and not surprisingly made easy comparisons     to     the     environmental     Bulgarian artist Christo and his wife Jean Claude  and  wondered  if  perhaps  they  were   exhibiting   in   Hong   Kong   and   wrapping a building. He saw many more on  the  way  to  Hong  Kong  Island  and  then quickly realised that this was a form of  renovation  on  old  and  new  buildings.  These   large   wrapped   buildings   were   particularly  striking  with  the  backdrop  of  the  dense  urban  confides  of  Kowloon  and Hong Kong Island.

    Herein  began  Peter’s  fascination  with  these  multicoloured  structures,  standing  out  like  giant  wrapped  packages in the midst of the neutral, almost monochromatic surroundings skyline. The scale and size of them was something that struck him the most and with their cranes and flood lights mixed in with the ambient city lights, they eerily took on a sci-fi look and feel to them. This is when he started to first make images of the structures as he was travelling with his trusty companion, a large format 4x5 camera using sheet film. 

    Peter  focuses  on  the  graphic  nature  of  the  structure,  as  well  as  the  “Cocoon”  in  its  environmental  surroundings of the distinct Hong Kong urban space. The name Cocoons for this series of works, felt a natural choice as these frameworks transform from an old and sometimes dilapidated building, wrapped in coloured material only to be unveiled like a Cocoon, to ceremoniously reveal a brand new building.