LOT 56
ZHAO GANG
B. China, 1961
Untitled, 2005
Signed and dated “Gang Zhao 2005” on verso
Oil on linen
90 x 118 cm
Private Collection, Singapore
RM 12,000 – RM 20,000
Born in Beijing, China, in 1961, Zhao Gang is an important figure in the development of Chinese contemporary art. He is the youngest member of the Stars Group—China’s first modern art movement. In 1983, Zhao Gang bid farewell to his home country to pursue an education, live and work in Europe and the United States. When the artist left China, there was no such thing as Chinese contemporary art. Upon his return to his home country 24 years later, in 2007, Gang developed a dynamic, provocative painting practice that freely amalgamated the Western and Eastern influences while reflecting on the profound changes affecting China. By the time he returned, globalisation had birthed a myriad of styles and forms of art, but also an entire art economy. Although the artist is native Chinese as well as an American, he considers himself, an insider’s outsider in both cultures. As both native and newcomer, Gang has developed a darkly ironic, often crude approach to depicting Chinese history. His paintings omit centuries-old tropes with images from the Cultural Revolution, images drawn from memories of his childhood, and images of China as an economic and cultural powerhouse in the new millennium, as portrayed in this work.