ZHAO YANG

His paintings wandering among reality, Eastern and Western fairy tales, as well as fables, transforming themselves as carriers of metaphors and symbols, and finally, presenting the hybrid images to the audiences. Figures in Zhao Yang’s paintings are always strange, even hilarious. They stand like monuments on the paintings, transmitting nihilism and romanticism. The diversity of paintings is controlled within a region of conflict and anxiety by the artist.

Zhao Yang always paints daily trifles which he endows them with different understanding and interpretations. His role is more as a director rather than a painter, expressing memories and narratives by his personal visual language. Figures from the paintings are like actors, posing for the director to fulfill his requirement. All these experiences, emotions, histories, stories and feelings are expressed out smoothly with Zhao’s plain painting language.

Zhao Yang, born in Jilin province, 1970 and graduated from the China Academy of Art in 1995. Currently lives and works in Beijing. Recent exhibition include: Zhao Yang: In Between, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, TNUA, Taipei (2016); ‘Zao’ by ZHAO Yang, ShanghART, Shanghai (2016); China 8, Contemporary Art from China at the Rhine and Ruhr, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg (2015); Une histoire: art, architecture, design des années 1980 à nos jours, Collections contemporaines, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (2015); Semi-automatic Mode 2, ShanghART Beijing, Beijing (2014); A Mirags Similar Truth Trugbild, ZHAO Yang Solo Exhibition, Galerie Eigenheim, Weimar, German (2013); The Battomless Pit, ZHAO Yang Solo Exhibition, Upto Art Space, Shanghai (2012); Sparkling Signpost, ZHAO Yang’s Solo Exhibition, Mouart, Beijing (2012); Jungle: A Close-Up Focus on Chinese Contemporary Art Trends, Platform China, Beijing (2010); BLADE – Reconstruct Leifeng Pagoda, SZ Art Center, Beijing (2009) etc.

Courtesy ShanghART