Zhao Fang

ARTIST BIO::: :::
(b. 1972, CHINA)

Zhao Fang was born in 1972, a graduate from Jilin Academy of Fine Arts. Witnessing hometown history unfolding and surging forward before his very eyes since the 1970s, Zhao has been pondering on the nature of power in response to such a rapid pace of change. In the decades of the 1950s to 1970s, the society passionately endorsed art forms that remain purposeful relating to the revolution and are served as an active force in social development. Quoted from Chairman Mao, “Power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

Looking away from the hallowed and remote national elements, soon enough Zhao directed his gaze at an artistic language that can accurately depict the saturation of power. Portraits of body have been an intimate part of his upbringings, they also pointed to a far-reaching visual order raising questions by means of his art and to endow with signs of intellectual reflection. Zhao explores the tension between individuals in the society in which codes have overpowered actual human beings, and our bodies have become merely the vehicles under the collective enterprise.

In his "Fist Power Series", the suspended moment depicted on canvas embodies each individual detailed with a variety of flesh tones and personalised postures. Extraordinary fluidity deftness of touch is emotionally stirring,  his meticulous brushstrokes demand our keen attention to the vividly delineated human bodies. The compositional arrangement reveals a parochial vision that Zhao invites viewers to render. The intimate proximity presents the most emblematic symbol of power, its tension urges spectators to penetrate into the atmosphere contorted with pain and fury. 

Zhao is determined to translating the language of human body into the need for self-transformation on the part of his artistic approach, thanks to the collective anxiety over insufficiencies of the lifeless institution imposed by the central government. It remains the most comprehensive reflection on an expression and evidence in step with changed times of the nation. Pivoted on the rich resources and visual materials from the vibrant society, the human body is served as Zhao's core artistic vision and conceptual explorations throughout his artistic career. 

 

EDUCATION

Jilin Academy of Fine Arts, Changchun, 1997

EXHIBITIONS

SOLO EXHIBITION

GROUP EXHIBITION