01 November —03 January 2009
Curator: Leng Lin
Asian Temporary Exhibition Space, Level 1 Free entry
click here to see the exhibited paintings (31 in total)
The Records, the name of which comes from the famous Chinese historical treaty Records of the Grand Historian, also know in English by its Chinese name Shiji(<<史记>>). This exhibition borrows the name to emphasis Zhang Xiaogang’s historical thinking in his artworks.
Zhang is one of the leaders of the contemporary Chinese art. His personal development comes along with contemporary Chinese art, and his art, also, comes along with the history and memory of modern China. From the blood rays, light spots and tear stains of Zhang’s previous paintings to the faraway skyline, overhead wire crossing through his later works, and even the neglectably indoor lamp cord and electrical wire, the artist was trying to express a subtle relationship between the abstract history and the practical day to day life, with the above minor details. With a historical way of thinking, Zhang reminds us that every individual is actually growing up in an historical setting, which is both abstract and practical. Also, with such a historical thinking, Zhang excavates the new possibilities of contemporary culture with various forms of art and deep speculation of history and memory.
Zhang Xiaogang does his art works with new materials, which, however, doesn’t change his persistent theme—-history and memory. In some of Zhang’s works, he uses glossy steel board instead of traditional canvas, when audience standing in front of the steel board, examining Zhang’s works, they will see themselves as well, overlapping the historical images on the paintings. This is how Zhang’s works bring the present to history.
Besides, Zhang Xiaogang continues his “record” method, which started from his Description series(see picture 1-5) in 2004, writing down plenty of thoughts and feelings generated when he was drawing on the steel boards with his sketches. Actually, Zhang’s method is exactly what ancient Chinese literati artists did—-when a painting was finished, they always inscribed some poems on the margin to express the artist’s mood when he drew the picture or the emotions that the painting wanted to express. The poems, then, became an important component of traditional Chinese painting. In this sense, what Zhang Xiaogang does is actually a return to the tradition: to literalize the visual images, as well as to visualize the literal.
There are also many sculptures made of bronze and cement, which present extruding trails made by time and memory through the images of amplified and distorted items in daily use. Zhang Xiaogang adds historical and memorial sense into his own experience by drawing pictures and recording feelings. For Zhang, however, what interests him is not history and memory itself, but the continuous observation, examination and question of himself on the ground of his experience, for his everlasting self-development.
picture 1 picture 2
picture 3 picture 4
picture 5
Support Sponsors
Zhang Xiaogang: The Records is funded by the National Endowments for the Arts, and with the generous support from the additional individuals and foundations, including XXX, XXX, XXX and XXX.
This exhibition is supported in part by the National Gallery of Victoria.
Relative Links
Video of the opening ceremony of ZHANG XIAO-GANG: The Records
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