Zhang Xiaogang is best known for his Big Family series which he has been working on since 1993. The spark for these works came from old family photographs. What interested the artist was the complexity of life and emotions behind the family scenes portrayed. The concept of a big 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.
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 individual differences. As Zhang Xiaogang says 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.
More recent works by Zhang Xiaogang of the Amnesia and Remembrance series deal with the workings of memory. The artists is interested in how memory can be selective and often inaccurate. Here the artist draws upon elements of his very early work prior to 1993, light bulbs, open books with writing, pens etc. Also, he is creating large scale canvasses of great empty urban scenes where the weight of recollection is palpable.
Chinese Contemporary is assisting the Sara Hilden Art Museum, Tampere, Finland with a major exhibition of Zhang Xiaogang's works to be held in the autumn of 2007.
1958
Born in Kunming
1982
Graduated at the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Chongqing
Currently living and working in Beijing
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2007
Zhang Xiaogang, Sara Hilden Museum, Tampere, Finland
2006
Amnesia and Memory, Gallery Artside, Seoul, Korea
Home-Zhang Xiaogang, Beijing Commune, Beijing, China
2005
Zhang Xiaogang 2005, Max Protech, New York
2004
Umbilical Cord of History Paintings by Zhang Xiaogang, Hong Kong Art Center, Hong Kong
2003
Forget and Remember, Galerie de France, Paris
2000
Zhang Xiaogang 2000, Max Protetch Gallery, New York
1999
Les Camarades, Galerie de France, Paris, France
1998
Bloodline: Big Family-1998, Hanart Taibei Gallery, Taiwan
1997
Bloodline: Big Family-1997, Gallery of the Central Academy of Faine Arts, Beijing, China
1989
Lost in Dreams, Gallery of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Chongqing, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
2008
Half-life of a dream: Contemporary Chinese art from the Logan Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA
Writing on the Wall: Chinese New Realism and Avant - Garde in the 80s and 90s, Groninger Museum, The Netherlands
Encounters, Pace Wildenstein, Beijing, China
Avantgarde China: 20 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art, National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan
2007
Society Art, Moscow , Russia
Starting from the Southwest, Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
2006-07
Mahjong - Chinesische Gegenwartskunst aus der Sammlung Sigg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
China now: Kunst in Zeiten des Umbruchs, Sammlung Essl - Kunsthaus, Klosterneuburg, Germany
2006
Food and Desire, South Silk Road. Beijing, China
Plato and His Seven Spirits, OCT Contemporary Art Center, Shenzhen, China
Reinventing Books in Chinese Contemporary Art, China Institute Gallery, New York, USA
2005-06
Regeneration - Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the U.S., Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, USA
2005
Mahjong - Chinesische Gegenwartskunst Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Germany
The Second Triennial of Chinese Arts, Guangzhou Museum, China
2004
Stone Face BANG - Chinas first group printing exhibition, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai. China
Shanghai 5 Biennale: Techniques of the visible, Shanghai Biennale - Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Contemporary Lithography Group Exhibition, L.A. Gallery Beijing, Beijing, China
Zhang Xiaogang, Galleria Davide Di Maggio, Milano, Italy
2003
From China with Art, Indonesian National Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
Chinese Contemporary Art, Ludwig Museum - Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest, Hungary
Chinart, Museo dArte Contemporanea Roma, Rome, Italy
2002
BABEL 2002, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea
Chinese Modernity, Armandao Alvares Penteado Foundation, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Image is Power, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Paris-Pekin, Espace Cardin, Paris, France
HINaRT, Museum Kuppersmuhle, Duisburg, Germany
2001
The Initial Image: Contemporary Art on Paper, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
Hot Pot, Kunstnemes Hus, Oslo, Norway
Towards a New Image, 20 Years of Contemporary Chinese Painting, National Gallery, Beijing, Shanghai Art Museum, Sichuan Province Art Museum, Chengdu and Art Museum of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China
Passe-murailles, Musee de Picardie, Amiens Rouges, Galerie Loft, Paris, France
C'est Moi, C' est Nous, Galerie de France, Paris, France
2000
Portraits de Chine Contemporaine, Espace Culturel F. Mitterand, Perigueux, France
Futuro, Contemporary Art Centre of Macau
Kwangju Biennial, Kwangju, Korea
The Dutch Gasunie, Groningen, Holland, Netherlands
The Chengdu Movement, Canvas International Art, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1998-2000
Inside Out, Asia Society, New York, MoMA San Francisco, Seattle, Monterey
8+8-1, Selected Paintings by 15 Contemporary Artists, Schoeni Gallery, Hong Kong
1997-98
Avant Garde Chinese Artists, Soobin Gallery, Singapore
China Now, Kulturprojekte, Basel, Switzerland
Faces and Bodies of the Middle Kingdom, Chinese Art of the Nineties, Gallery Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republc
1996-97
CHINA! Kunstmuseum, Bonn, travelled to Vienna, Singapore, Copenhagen and Warsaw
Four Points de Rencontre: Chine 1996, Galerie de France, Paris, France
1996
Asia Pacific Triennial, Australia
Reckoning with the Past, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
1995
46th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Avant Gardes Artistiques Xineses, Centre d'art Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain
1994
22nd International Biennial of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
1993
New Art from China: Post-1989, Marlborough Gallery, London, England
Chinese Fine Art in the 1990s: Experiences of China, Chengdu, China
Mao Goes Pop, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
1992
Guangzhou Biannual, Guangzhou, China
1991
I Don't Want to Play Cards with Cezanne, Asia Pacific Art Museum, California, USA
1989
China Avant Garde, China National Gallery, Beijing, China