Sublime decay
In his London debut exhibition, Chinese artist Huang Xu presents a meditation on the fragility of the global economy, based on an ethereal series of oversize C-prints

On Wednesday 11 February, the RSA Arts & Ecology Centre's Michaela Crimmin is giving a speech to open the first London exhibition by the Chinese artist Huang Xu at London's October Gallery. Huang Xu usess the 3d scanners usually used by archeologists to create his richly haunting haunting images of tattered remains of plastic bags and used condoms.

The October Gallery say: "For Huang Xu, the mundane history of theplastic sopping bag evokes a critical commentary on China's acceleration towards a free-market economy and the global shift in the fortunes of capitalism."

Though free plastic bags were virtually unheard of in much of China before the early 1990s, around 3 million plastic bags are now used in China every day. Levels of plastic pollution were so high in the months leading up to the Olympics that China imposed a ban on lightweight bags. For many Chinese, this environmental crisis was perceived as symptomatic of the negative impact of the country's recent race to embrace capitalism.  

Huang Xu was born in Beijing in 1968. He set up the Substratum Art Studio in 1989, the Migrant Bird Art Studio in 1991 and the Big Basin Studio in 2003. He has exhibited in Australia and China and works as a professional photographer in Beijing.

The exhibition runs until 18 April at the October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AL. For more information visit www.octobergallery.co.uk  

In slide show above:
Fragment No 1
Fragment No 2
Fragment No 3
Fragment No 4
Fragment No 5
Fragment No 10
Fragment No 13
All prints ricepaper or chromophotograph, 2007