Multi-layered looping from Isaac Julien

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As with many Julien projects, this is no mere documentary about a dramatic moment in history: it is a multi-layered looping together of time and place, characters from mythological stories alongside those representing real victims.

Loosely based on the Thirties Shanghai film Goddess, it features Chinese superstar Maggie Cheung as the goddess Mazu, who represents a 16th century legend about fishermen who died at sea in Guangxi, the province she protects. And the cocklepickers’ home. Scenes of Mazu facing a misty river, and a spectral floating junk unite both tragedies; the boat’s muted tones matching those of classical Chinese paintings and contrasting with the realist documentary colours of three young, sleeping fishermen.

A side-story inserting a Thirties pimp to represent the cocklemaster and his "girl" posing in sumptuous Shanghai hotel lounges, form distractingly beautiful statements about power and ownership.

And any confusion about meanings is lost in the sheer beauty and exquisite composition of Julien’s photographs.

To 13 November. victoria-miro.com, 020 7336 8109.

Isaac Julien: Ten Thousand Waves
Victoria Miró
N1