| Zhang Xiaogang was born on 1958 in Kunming, | | | | define this era. Because Zhang's footing is within |
| Yunnan province,CHINA. Zhang Xiaogang's | | | | the academy system, therefore the system may |
| paintings engage with the notion of identity within | | | | also claim credit for his success. |
| the Chinese culture of collectivism. Basing his work | | | | Zhang has achieved this by bringing together a |
| around the concept of 'family' -immediate, | | | | number of polarities. Zhang uses a technique |
| extended, and societal - Zhang's portraits depict | | | | based on western academic realism to suggest |
| an endless genealogy of imagined forebears and | | | | unreality and illusion; he portrays a private insular |
| progenitors, each unnervingly similar and | | | | world by means of a public artistic language, |
| distinguished by minute difference. Often painted | | | | hinting at unspoken public trauma through |
| in black and white, Zhang's portraits translate the | | | | individuals' secrets. Over twenty years, Zhang has |
| language of photography into paint. Drawing from | | | | managed to resolve his own stylistic passage |
| the generic quality of formal photo studio poses | | | | from an early expressionistic period to a form of |
| and greyscale palette, Zhang's figures are | | | | classicism.This solution makes a cultural connection |
| nameless and timeless: a series of individual | | | | with the pioneering era when western painting |
| histories represented within the strict confines of | | | | technique was first successfully borrowed by |
| formula. | | | | popular art to portray the figure, when it was |
| Zhang Xiaogang's work is usually based on its | | | | adapted to mass culture in the spirit of popular |
| iconography and style, which reveal a strong | | | | folk taste. It is therefore close to traditional |
| consistency whether the works are studied from | | | | Chinese taste, hence successful in making claims |
| the angle of artistic intention or personal history. If | | | | to be a new paradigm. |
| we look at the "phenomenon" of Zhang Xiaogang, | | | | Selected Exhibitions:- |
| and consider elements of his art that have helped | | | | 2000 |
| to establish his position in the art world, we can | | | | - Max Protetch Gallery, New York |
| look away from Zhang's psychological and | | | | 1999 |
| personal history, to focus on his contributions to | | | | - Galerie de France, Paris |
| artistic language in contemporary Chinese art. | | | | 1989 |
| Zhang Xiaogang's art has become a canon of | | | | - Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts,Chongqing |
| contemporary Chinese oil painting, and its merits | | | | Conclusions: |
| depend very much on the fact that he has found | | | | Zhang Xiaogang's work is usually based on its |
| new solutions to harnessing western classical | | | | iconography and style, which reveal a strong |
| academic technique (a standard in Chinese | | | | consistency whether the works are studied from |
| academies) to turn it into an indigenous artistic | | | | the angle of artistic intention or personal history. |
| language. Zhang Xiaogang is very much a product | | | | He had focused on his contributions to artistic |
| of the Chinese art academy system, and out of | | | | language in contemporary Chinese art. |
| this heritage he has developed an iconography and | | | | What to Do Next... |
| identified a special sensibility that in many ways | | | | |