Though they’re hard to read at first glance, it’s illegibility that draws viewers into Guanyu Xu’s photographs of apartment interiors at Yancey Richardson Gallery. At first appearing to be a digital collage, the images are of actual physical spaces temporarily hung with photographs and shot by Xu. Here, the floor and curving wall anchor the scene, which is hung with a photo of a window (partially covering a doorway), a photo of a bookshelf affixed to a radiator along with larger and smaller images that make space strange. The details draw us in – travel photos, personal snapshots and more express the particular character and interests of the apartment owner, each of whom lives in the US or China with varying immigration statuses. Titled ‘Resident Alien,’ the focus on intimate personal details in each photographed interior challenges the exhibition title’s cold terminology. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 20th).
