China's Leading Contemporary Artist Gets First U.K. Show

Zeng Fanzhi is one of China's foremost contemporary artists. He works in a characteristically expressionistic painting style, displaying a deep interest in landscape alongside more figurative work. In densely worked landscape paintings, such as PureLand (2012) and Untitled (2012), Zeng uses heavily textured brushwork to create fictitious places that are both luminous and bleak, with bursts of colour serving to underscore the physicality of his painting process.

Zeng's figurative works are similar in their method, being expressly inspired by the brush drawings of Albrecht Dürer. In a reversal of conventional East-West aesthetics, Zeng re-interprets Dürer's intricate imagery and thin, precise brushstrokes, drawing clear parallels with traditional Chinese painting in works such as The Hare (2012) and Head of an Old Man (2012). In his interpretation of Dürer's drawing Praying Hands (1508), he moves beyond the overt symbolism of hands clasped in prayer, intent on rendering the nuances of aging flesh in highly textured impasto.

Zeng Fanzhi was born in Wuhan, China in 1964. Major exhibitions include Singapore Art Museum (2007); Musée d'ArtModerne de Saint-Etienne de Metropole, Saint-Etienne (2007); Fundacion Godia, Barcelona (2009); National Gallery for Foreign Art, Sofia (2010); and Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2010). He has participated in numerous international group exhibitions including the first Guangzhou Triennale (2002); the Biennale di Venezia (2009); and "I mondo vi appartiene" at the François Pinault Foundation, Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2011). He will also participate in a major solo exhibition at the the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in October, 2013.

Zeng lives and works in Beiijing.
ZENG FANZHI
20 November 2012 to 19 January 2013
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 17 from 6:00 - 8:00pm
GAGOSIAN GALLERY
6-24 BRITANNIA STREET T. +44-207-841-9960
LONDON WC1X 9JD F. +44-207-841-9961
HOURS: Tuesday - Saturday 10:00am - 6:00pm

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China's Leading Contemporary Artist Gets First U.K. Show November 02, 2012