Zhang Xiaogang

From Asian Art Documentation

Zhang Xiaogang (b.1958 Kunming, China. Lives in Beijing)

張曉剛

Contents 1 About 2 Education 3 Exhibitions 3.1 Solo Exhibitions 3.2 Selected Group Exhibitions 4 Representing galleries 5 Public collections 6 Internal links 7 External links 8 References

[edit] About

Zhang Xiaogang is one of the key figures in the Chinese contemporary art scene, and through his use of old family photographs as the basis for his portraits, he conveys a sense of connection to his bloodline and to the tremulous changes of modern Chinese society.

"The art of Sichuan province in south China is very different from the art from the politically charged atmosphere of the capital, Beijing. The Sichuan school is far more surrealist and subtly psychological that its northern counterpart. Zhang Xiaogang is the major artist of this school.

Since 1993 the artist has been working on the "Big Family" or "Bloodlines" series - works inspired by old family photos. The concept of family in China goes far beyond one’s immediate family and the ties of family blood. Collectivism is an inherent part of Chinese social history and the ties of social and cultural blood are very strong forces indeed. Zhang Xiaogang says of this greater ‘family’ “we are mutually restricted and interdependent”. The ties are complex, subtle and persistent.

In his paintings the artist captures the superficial homogeneity of the collectivity through the smooth, unblemished faces and evenly staring eyes - touched up as they would have been in the photographers’ studio. Small idiosyncrasies, one crossed eye, glasses, a mole, imperfect teeth or a wisp of hair gone astray, reveal psychological differences. Such subtle differences were all that would have been tolerated during the Cultural Revolution. As Zhang Xiaogang states “we live in a big family, the first thing we learn is how to shut ourselves up in a secret small cell and pretend to keep step with all the other members of the Family.” This work is a record, an examination, of the psyche behind the all important Chinese collectivity. It is still a force, although considerably less powerful in contemporary society than in the China of the 1960s and 1970s.

Zhang Xiaogang’s works may all appear the same to the uninitiated but there are continual and constant changes throughout his oeuvre. These changes, subtle though they may be, move with the changes in Chinese society. Thus the Bloodline works of 2002 are as far from the works of 1993 as contemporary Chinese society is compared to that of ten years ago. There is undoubted similarity but equally unmistakable and striking changes."

Excerpts from [2]

[edit] Education

1992 Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Chongqing

[edit] Exhibitions

[edit] Solo Exhibitions

2004 Galleria Davide Di Maggio, Milano

2004 Remember and Forge Galerie de France, Paris

2000 Max Protetch Gallery, New York

1999 Galerie de France, Paris

1989 Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Chongqing

[edit] Selected Group Exhibitions

Ongoing

• "Mahjong" - Chinesische Gegenwartskunst aus der Sammlung Sigg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg
• "China now" - Kunst in Zeiten des Umbruchs, Sammlung Essl - Kunsthaus, Klosterneuburg

2005

• "Regeneration" - Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the U.S.
• "ASUART" - Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
• "Mahjong" - Chinesische Gegenwartskunst, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern

2004

• "Stone Face BANG" - Chinas first group printing exhibition, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai
• "Regeneration" - Contemporary Chinese Art, David Winton Bell Gallery, Providence, RI
• Shanghai 5 Biennale. Techniques of the visible, Shanghai Biennale - Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai
• Contemporary Lithography Group Exhibition, L.A. Gallery Beijing, Beijing

2003

• 1st Guangzhou Triennale, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou
• Chinese Contemporary Art, Ludwig Museum - Museum of Contemporary Art - Budapest, Budapest
• CHINaRT, MACRO - Museo dArte Contemporanea Roma, Rome

2002

• "Chinese Modernity", Armandao Alvares Penteado Foundation, Sao Paulo
• "Image is Power",He Xiangning Art Museum,Shenzhen
• "Paris-Pekin" Espace Cardin,Paris
• "CHINaRT" Museum Kuppersmuhle,Duisburg
• The 1st Guangzhou Triennial, Guangzhou, Guangdong

2001

• "The Initial Image": Contemporary Art on Paper, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai
• "Hot Pot", Kunstnemes Hus, Oslo
• "Towards a New Image", 20 Years of Contemporary Chinese Painting, National Gallery, *"Beijing, then" Shanghai Art Museum, Sichuan Province Art Museum, Chengdu and Art Museum of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou
• "Passe-murailles", Musee de Picardie, Amiens
• "Rouges", Galerie Loft, Paris
• "C’est Moi", C’est Nous, Galerie de France, Paris

2000

• "Portraits de Chine Contemporaine", Espace Culturel F. Mitterand, Perigueux
• "Futuro", Contemporary Art Centre of Macau
• Kwangju Biennial, Kwangju, Korea
• "The Dutch Gasunie", Groningen, Holland
• "The Chengdu Movement", Canvas International Art, Amsterdam

1998-2000

• "Inside Out", Asia Society, New York, MoMA San Francisco, Seattle, Monterey

1997-98

• "8+8-1", Selected Paintings by 15 Contemporary Artists, Schoeni Gallery, Hong Kong

1998

• Reckoning with the Past, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Christchurch

1997

• "8 Avant Garde Chinese Artists", Soobin Gallery, Singapore
• "China Now", Kulturprojekte, Basel
• "Faces and Bodies of the Middle Kingdom", Chinese Art of the Nineties, Gallery Rudolfinum, Prague
• Awarded Coutts Art Foundation Award

1996-97

• CHINA! Kunstmuseum, Bonn, travelled to Vienna, Singapore, Copenhagen and Warsaw
• "4 Points de Rencontre": Chine 1996, Galerie de France, Paris

1996

• Asia Pacific Triennial, Australia
• "Reckoning with the Past", Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh

1995

• 46th Venice Biennale, Venice
• Avant Gardes Artistiques Xineses, Centre d’Art Santa Monica, Barcelona

1994

• 22nd International Biennial of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

1993

• "New Art from China": Post-1989, Marlborough Gallery, London
• "Chinese Fine Art in the 1990s": Experiences of China, Chengdu
• "Mao Goes Pop", Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

1992

• Guangzhou Biannual, Guangzhou

1991 I Don’t Want to Play Cards with Cezanne, Asia Pacific Art Museum, California 1989 China Avant Garde, China National Gallery, Beijing

[edit] Representing galleries

• Chinese Contemporary, Beijing
• Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong, SAR
• Galerie de France, Paris
• Xin Dong Cheng - Paris, Paris
• Arario Gallery - Chungcheongnam-do, Chungcheongnam-do
• Gallery Artside, Seoul
• Canvas International Art, Amsterdam
• Jaski Art Gallery, Amsterdam
• Art Seasons, Singapore
• Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery, London (England)
• Max Protetch Inc., New York, NY

[edit] Public collections

• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
• Long March Foundation, Beijing

[edit] Internal links

• China
• Liu Wei
• Hai Bo
• Xu Bing

[edit] External links

• the-artists.org[3]
• ArtFacts.Net[4]
• artnet[5]
• Wikipedia[6]
• Hanart TZ Gallery[7]
• ChinaDaily:The New York Times[8]

[edit] References

• Chinese Contemporary[9]