Zhao Gang
Zhao Gang was born in 1961 in Beijing. As a teenager, he joined the so-called “Stars” group, the first avant-garde artistic movement to claim artistic freedom in China. In 1983, Zhao Gang went to study at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Maastricht, Holland, then at Vassar College in New York, where he became an American citizen. The shock of his discovery of Western culture is marked by deep disillusionment. He therefore began to apply methods of deconstruction, relating both to the materials and equipment used and to the techniques, currents and artistic ideas. His pictorial works, with rich and diverse subjects and themes, express the contradictions felt by the artist between his youthful hopes and his adult life, between dream and reality. Carrying a biting and liberating irony, they often translate a deep feeling of loneliness. He currently lives and works in New York. COMMENT « The simplest trick in art is to be unoriginal, to repeat someone else’s paintings. It’s simple, like what a child does, so I am going backwards. »
Biography
Zhao Gang was born in 1961 in Beijing. As a teenager, he joined the so-called “Stars” group, the first avant-garde artistic movement to claim artistic freedom in China. In 1983, Zhao Gang went to study at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Maastricht, Holland, then at Vassar College in New York, where he became an American citizen. The shock of his discovery of Western culture is marked by deep disillusionment.
Zhao Gang was born in 1961 in Beijing. As a teenager, he joined the so-called “Stars” group, the first avant-garde artistic movement to claim artistic freedom in China. In 1983, Zhao Gang went to study at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Maastricht, Holland, then at Vassar College in New York, where he became an American citizen. The shock of his discovery of Western culture is marked by deep disillusionment.
He therefore began to apply methods of deconstruction, relating both to the materials and equipment used and to the techniques, currents and artistic ideas. His pictorial works, with rich and diverse subjects and themes, express the contradictions felt by the artist between his youthful hopes and his adult life, between dream and reality. Carrying a biting and liberating irony, they often translate a deep feeling of loneliness. He currently lives and works in New York.
COMMENT
« The simplest trick in art is to be unoriginal, to repeat someone else’s paintings. It’s simple, like what a child does, so I am going backwards. »
Career
Solo exhibitions
2015
UCCA, Beijing, China
2014
Emperor and His… – Zhao Gang Solo Exhibition, Aye Gallery, Beijing, China
Solo exhibitions
2015
UCCA, Beijing, China
2014
Emperor and His… – Zhao Gang Solo Exhibition, Aye Gallery, Beijing, China
2013
The Khitans: Zhao Gang Solo Exhibition, Platform China, Beijing, China
Another Reality, Gallery LIN, Taipei, Taiwan
2012
Solo-presentation booth, Galerie Christian Nagel, Art Hong Kong
ZHAO GANGSOLO SHOW, Wada Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan
ART HK 2012, Hong Kong, China
2011
A Sick Man – Zhao Gang Solo Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Sisyphus. Zhao Gang, Aura Gallery, Shanghai, China
Burning the Wood: the collection of Du Yuesheng, Aye gallery, Beijing, China
2010
Zhao Gang, Galerie Christian Nagel, Berlin, Germany
2009
Dance in Dream, Triumph Art Space, Beijing, China
2008
Paintings by Zhao Gang, Hong Kong Arts Center, Hong Kong
TSI Yi Space Gallery, Beijing, China
2007
Feng Zhengjie & Gang Zhao, Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, USA
After Thought, Galerie Christian Nagel, Köln
Recent Works, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
Galerie Christian Nagel, Cologne, Germany
Gang Zhao’s Most Recent Works, He Xiang Ning Art Musem, Shenzhen, China
2006
Broken narrative, Bleich-Rossi, Vienna, Austria
2005
Long March in Harlem New York, Yokohama Triennale, Yokohama, Japan
Want Sex, Beijing Art Now Gallery, Beijing, China
War game, Galerie Christian Nagel, Berlin, Germany
2004
Irony of Mistranslation, Michael Goedhuis, New York, USA
2002
Gallery 4A, Sydney, Australia
2001
Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney
1999
Courtyard Gallery, Beijing, China
1994
Peg Alston Fine Arts, New York, USA
1992
Vorpal Gallery, New York, USA
1991
The Unpainted Landscapes, Gutharc Ballin Gallerx, Paris, France
1990
Vorpal Gallery, New York, USA
1989
Via del Moro 25/b, Roma, Italy
1987
Lavaggi Gallery, New York, USA
Group exhibitions (selection)
2013
Painterly, BANK, Shanghai, China
2012
Pinellia, Aura Gallery, Beijing, China
2010
Demolition Milk II, KIT-Kunst-im-Tunnel, Düsseldorf, Germany
2009
Embrace Suzhou, Exhibition of the Chinese Contemporary Arts, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China/ Guangzhou Triennale, Guangzhou, China
Yokohoma Triennale, Yokohoma, Japan
2008
Delirious Beijing, PKM Gallery, Beijing, China
Chinese Apartment Art: 1970s-1990s, Shuimu Art Space, Beijing, China
2007
PERFORMA New York, biennial of new visual art performance, New York, US
A Point in the Red. Contemporary Chinese Art, Gallerie Kashya Hildebrand, Zürich
The 4rd Annual China International Gallery Exposition, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Beijing, China
International Asian Antique and Art Fair Hong Kong, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, HongKong
ShContemporary 07 Art Fair, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Shanghai, China
2006
Jiang Hu. 34 Contemporary Chinese Artists, Tilton Gallery, New York, USA
The Face of Contemporary Art in China, Virginia Beach Contemporary Museum of Art, Virgina, US
The Face of Contemporary Art in China, Federal Reserved, Washington D.C, USA
2005
Contemporary Erotic Drawings, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut; DiverseWorks, Houston, Texas, US
David Diao and Gang Zhao, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong
2004
Sunrise Sunset, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, New York, US
Silknet, Galerie Urs Meile, Luzern, Switzerland
2003
David Diao/Gang Zhao: at Mid Career, Asian American Arts Centre, New York
Chambers Fine Art, New York, US
2002
Jessica Murray Projects, Brooklyn, New York, USA
2001
Central Academy Gallery of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Wei Liu and Gang Zhao, Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2000
Xing Xing Group Show, Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1998
Salon 300, Williamsburg, New York, USA
David Lowe and Gang Zhao, Peng Gallery, Philadelphia, USA
1990
The Door”, P.S. 1, Institute of the Arts, Long Island City, New York, USA
Blum Helman Gallery, New York, USA
1989
The Stars: 10 Years, Festival d´Automne de Paris, Paris, France
1987
SUNY Albany Art Gallery, Albany, New York, USA
1986
Bejing/New York: Avant-Garde Chinese Art, Sharon Creative Arts Foundation, Sharon, CT; Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA
City Gallery, New York, USA
1980
Xing Xing (The Stars), China Art Gallery, Beijing, China
1979
Xing Xing (The Stars), Beihai Park, Beijing, China