Debuting at Light Work this week is “Suspended Status” by Chicago-based photographer Guanyu Xu. Opening on Thursday, Oct. 27, in Light Work’s Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery, this solo exhibition depicts an artist caught in a web of red tape. The work on view for this exhibition comprises images from Xu’s ongoing series, “Resident Aliens,” as well as a large grid of images that he calls “Suspension.”

Both bodies of work use visa status in the United States as a means of framing images that depict people who are suspended between countries and cultures. Their futures hang on faceless state agencies in a churning political current.

Xu’s practice examines the production of power in photography as well as the fate of personal freedom and its relationship to political regimes. He negotiates these questions from his perspective as a Chinese gay man. Xu makes use of photography, new media and installation, and his work across media intentionally reflects aspects of his displaced and fractured identity.

“Suspended Status” runs through Thursday, Dec. 15. A reception with Xu and his gallery talk takes place on Thursday, October 27, at 6 p.m. in Light Work’s Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery. The reception is free and open to the public, with light refreshments. Find Light Work in the Robert B. Menschel Media Center at 316 Waverly Ave.

About the Artist

Born in Beijing in 1993, 徐冠宇 Guanyu Xu currently makes Chicago his base. He is a lecturer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His major influences are the production of ideology in American visual culture and a conservative familial upbringing in China. He is the recipient of the CENTER Development Grant (2021), Chicago DCASE Artist Grant (2022), Hyéres International Festival Prize (2020), Kodak Film Photo Award (2019), Lensculture Emerging Talent Award (2019), Philadelphia Photo Arts Center Annual Competition (2019) and PHOTO-FAIRS Shanghai Exposure Award (2020). He has been an artist-in-residence at ACRE (Chicago), Latitude (Chicago) and Light Work.