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Zeng Fanzhi

Zeng Fanzhi, Haircut, 1989 Oil on canvas, 39 ⅜ × 27 ⅝ inches (100 × 70 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Haircut, 1989

Oil on canvas, 39 ⅜ × 27 ⅝ inches (100 × 70 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Artist and Model No. 2, 1989 Oil on canvas, 46 ⅛ × 32 ¾ inches (117 × 83 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Artist and Model No. 2, 1989

Oil on canvas, 46 ⅛ × 32 ¾ inches (117 × 83 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Hospital Triptych No. 1, 1991 Oil on canvas, in 3 parts, overall: 70 ⅞ × 181 ⅞ inches (180 × 460 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Hospital Triptych No. 1, 1991

Oil on canvas, in 3 parts, overall: 70 ⅞ × 181 ⅞ inches (180 × 460 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Man and Meat, 1993 Oil on canvas, 70 ⅞ × 78 ¾ inches (180 × 200 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Man and Meat, 1993

Oil on canvas, 70 ⅞ × 78 ¾ inches (180 × 200 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Mask Series No. 8, 1997 Oil on canvas, 70 ⅞ × 78 ¾ inches (180 × 200 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Mask Series No. 8, 1997

Oil on canvas, 70 ⅞ × 78 ¾ inches (180 × 200 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, The Death of Marat, 2001 Oil on canvas, 70 ⅞ × 59 ⅛ inches (180 × 150 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, The Death of Marat, 2001

Oil on canvas, 70 ⅞ × 59 ⅛ inches (180 × 150 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, We No. 9, 2002 Oil on canvas, in 3 parts, overall: 86 ⅝ × 259 ⅞ inches (220 × 660 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, We No. 9, 2002

Oil on canvas, in 3 parts, overall: 86 ⅝ × 259 ⅞ inches (220 × 660 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Portrait, 2004 Oil on canvas, 78 ¾ × 59 ⅛ inches (200 × 150 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Portrait, 2004

Oil on canvas, 78 ¾ × 59 ⅛ inches (200 × 150 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Covered Lamb, 2009 Golden silk nanmu wood, 43 ⅜ × 27 ⅝ × 21 ⅝ inches (110 × 70 × 55 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Covered Lamb, 2009

Golden silk nanmu wood, 43 ⅜ × 27 ⅝ × 21 ⅝ inches (110 × 70 × 55 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Artist Series Lucian Freud, 2011 Oil on canvas, 70 ⅞ × 70 ⅞ inches (180 × 180 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Artist Series Lucian Freud, 2011

Oil on canvas, 70 ⅞ × 70 ⅞ inches (180 × 180 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Artist Series Self-Portrait, 2011 Oil on canvas, 59 ⅛ × 39 ⅜ inches (150 × 100 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Artist Series Self-Portrait, 2011

Oil on canvas, 59 ⅛ × 39 ⅜ inches (150 × 100 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, The Christ Child, 2012 Oil on canvas, 59 × 59 inches (150 × 150 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, The Christ Child, 2012

Oil on canvas, 59 × 59 inches (150 × 150 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Jing Hu Xi Liu, 2012 Pencil on paper, 19 ¾ × 27 ⅝ inches (50 × 70 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Jing Hu Xi Liu, 2012

Pencil on paper, 19 ¾ × 27 ⅝ inches (50 × 70 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Self-Portrait, 2013 Oil on canvas, 114 ¼ × 114 ¼ inches (290 × 290 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Self-Portrait, 2013

Oil on canvas, 114 ¼ × 114 ¼ inches (290 × 290 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Untitled, 2015 Cast silver, 102 ⅜ × 76 × 20 ½ inches (260 × 193 × 52 cm), edition of 5© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Untitled, 2015

Cast silver, 102 ⅜ × 76 × 20 ½ inches (260 × 193 × 52 cm), edition of 5
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Blue, 2015 Oil on canvas, in 3 parts, overall: 157 ½ × 275 ⅝ inches (400 × 700 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Blue, 2015

Oil on canvas, in 3 parts, overall: 157 ½ × 275 ⅝ inches (400 × 700 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Untitled, 2015 Oil on canvas, in 2 parts, overall: 78 ¾ × 315 inches (200 × 800 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Untitled, 2015

Oil on canvas, in 2 parts, overall: 78 ¾ × 315 inches (200 × 800 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Lucian Freud, 2017 Oil on canvas, 70 ⅞ × 70 ⅞ inches (180 × 180 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, Lucian Freud, 2017

Oil on canvas, 70 ⅞ × 70 ⅞ inches (180 × 180 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, 8, 2018 Oil on canvas, 47 ¼ × 47 ¼ inches (120 × 120 cm)© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

Zeng Fanzhi, 8, 2018

Oil on canvas, 47 ¼ × 47 ¼ inches (120 × 120 cm)
© Zeng Fanzhi Studio

About

Zeng Fanzhi’s visually and historically complex paintings reflect his bold experimentation with, and fusion of, Eastern and Western artistic traditions.

Born and raised in Wuhan, China, Zeng graduated from the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, Wuhan, in 1991. From the nineteenth century until the 1990s, Wuhan was one of China’s most prosperous cities and witness to a collision of Western and Eastern cultures. During his youth Zeng was inspired by China’s ’85 New Wave movement, which saw artists search for a new, often more conceptual, language after the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Zeng closely followed and studied Western art and was particularly drawn to German Expressionism and French Romanticism, through which he observed the ways in which his predecessors processed and visualized their experiences during times of extreme societal flux. He was especially drawn to the bold expressive gestures of Max Beckmann, as well as artists such as Willem de Kooning and Edvard Munch. These influences led him to deviate from the Social Realism that he was taught in school. Instead, he keenly observed objects and images from daily life. His Hospital (1991–92) and Meat (1992–94) paintings are examples of this turn. In these visceral works, he painted the skin of his subjects a pinkish color resembling slaughtered meat, demonstrating his concern and compassion for human existence and fragility.

In 1993 Zeng relocated to Beijing, where the unfamiliar environment left him feeling isolated. During this time he became keenly aware of the people he encountered, from all walks of life, who were living through a period of rapid modernization. This awareness led to the creation of his Mask works (1994–2004), a series that preserved the large, vacant eyes and thick, clumsy hands of the subjects seen in prior paintings and introduced greater distance between the figures, creating a sense of alienation. The masks in these works obscure and divert from the subjects’ feelings and hint at Zeng’s apprehension toward and rejection of society’s accelerated, systematic development. These works not only provide a record of this period of profound social transformation, but also offer a glimpse of the collective memory of this era.

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Zeng Fanzhi

Photo: courtesy Zeng Fanzhi

Fairs, Events & Announcements

Gagosian’s booth at ART SG 2024. Artwork, left to right: © ADAGP, Paris, 2024, © Jonas Wood, © Rick Lowe Studio. Photo: Ringo Cheung

Art Fair

ART SG 2024

January 19–21, 2024, booth BC06
Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore
artsg.com

Gagosian is pleased to participate in the second edition of ART SG, with a selection of works by international contemporary artists including Harold Ancart, Georg Baselitz, Ashley Bickerton, Amoako Boafo, Dan Colen, Edmund de Waal, Nan Goldin, Lauren Halsey, Hao Liang, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Tetsuya Ishida, Alex Israel, Donald Judd, Y.Z. Kami, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Rick Lowe, Takashi Murakami, Takashi Murakami & Virgil Abloh, Nam June Paik, Ed Ruscha, Jim Shaw, Alexandria Smith, Spencer Sweeney, Stanley Whitney, Jonas Wood, and Zeng Fanzhi. The works on view, which embrace a wide variety of subjects and approaches, find artists infusing traditional genres such as history painting, portraiture, and landscape with new and surprising ideas that traverse cultural and temporal boundaries. 

Gagosian’s booth at ART SG 2024. Artwork, left to right: © ADAGP, Paris, 2024, © Jonas Wood, © Rick Lowe Studio. Photo: Ringo Cheung

Gagosian’s booth at West Bund Art & Design 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Zeng Fanzhi; © Katharina Grosse and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany 2023; © Spencer Sweeney; © Yayoi Kusama. Photo: Alessandro Wang

Art Fair

West Bund Art & Design 2023

November 9–12, 2023, booth A102
West Bund Art Center, Shanghai
www.westbundshanghai.com

Gagosian is pleased to participate in West Bund Art & Design with an extensive group presentation. The gallery will exhibit works by Harold Ancart, Georg Baselitz, Glenn Brown, Urs Fischer, Katharina Grosse, Hao Liang, Damien Hirst, Thomas Houseago, Alex Israel, Jia Aili, Anish Kapoor, Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, Takashi Murakami & Virgil Abloh, Albert Oehlen, Nam June Paik, Ed Ruscha, Alexandria Smith, Spencer Sweeney, Cameron Welch, Jonas Wood, and Zeng Fanzhi.

Gagosian’s booth at West Bund Art & Design 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Zeng Fanzhi; © Katharina Grosse and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany 2023; © Spencer Sweeney; © Yayoi Kusama. Photo: Alessandro Wang

Gagosian’s booth at Taipei Dangdai 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Mark Grotjahn; © Zeng Fanzhi; © 2023 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Photo: Ringo Cheung

Art Fair

Taipei Dangdai 2023

May 12–14, 2023, booth E10
Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center
taipeidangdai.com

Gagosian is pleased to participate in Taipei Dangdai 2023, presenting works by Louise Bonnet, Dan Colen, Edmund de Waal, Urs Fischer, Cy Gavin, Nan Goldin, Katharina Grosse, Mark Grotjahn, Damien Hirst, Thomas Houseago, Yayoi Kusama, Deana Lawson, Takashi Murakami, Sterling Ruby, Alexandria Smith, Spencer Sweeney, Kon Trubkovich, Mary Weatherford, Cameron Welch, Anna Weyant, and Zeng Fanzhi.

Gagosian’s booth at Taipei Dangdai 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Mark Grotjahn; © Zeng Fanzhi; © 2023 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Photo: Ringo Cheung

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Museum Exhibitions

Hao Liang, Eight Views of Xiaoxiang—Snowscape, 2014–15 © Hao Liang. Photo: courtesy UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing

On View

Duration
Chinese Art in Transformation

Opened September 25, 2020
Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing
www.msam.cn

Duration: Chinese Art in Transformation attempts to show how every moment that stretches is an absorption of the past, and the endless possibilities of the future are based on the past and the present. The exhibition presents painting, sculpture, installation, video, animation, and more from the 1970s to the present. Work by Hao Liang, Jia Aili, and Zeng Fanzhi is included.

Hao Liang, Eight Views of Xiaoxiang—Snowscape, 2014–15 © Hao Liang. Photo: courtesy UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing

Installation view, Zeng Fanzhi: Old and New (Paintings 1988–2023), Museum of Art Pudong, Shanghai, September 27, 2023–March 8, 2024. Artwork © Zeng Fanzhi. Photo: Achen

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Zeng Fanzhi
Old and New (Paintings 1988–2023)

September 27, 2023–March 8, 2024
Museum of Art Pudong, Shanghai
www.museumofartpd.org.cn

Zeng Fanzhi: Old and New (Paintings 1988–2023) includes more than sixty paintings from the last thirty-five years, grouped in four interrelated yet distinct sections: “The Early Years,” “Different Paths,” “Painting as Contemplation,” and “Monumentals.” It also features a painting Zeng made on-site at the Museum of Art Pudong, as well as video and sound experiments inspired by the experience of viewing the exhibition, which were carried out by a friend of the artist’s, celebrated film director Er Cheng, and Cheng’s team.

Installation view, Zeng Fanzhi: Old and New (Paintings 1988–2023), Museum of Art Pudong, Shanghai, September 27, 2023–March 8, 2024. Artwork © Zeng Fanzhi. Photo: Achen

Zeng Fanzhi, Van Gogh III, 2017 © Zeng Fanzhi

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Zeng Fanzhi | Van Gogh

October 20, 2017–March 5, 2018
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
www.vangoghmuseum.nl

This show marks the first time the Van Gogh Museum has invited a contemporary Asian artist to exhibit at the institution. Zeng Fanzhi, who has been inspired by the artist, presents new never-before-exhibited paintings that refer to works by Van Gogh in the museum’s collection, creating a dialogue between modern and contemporary art. The show was extended to accommodate the addition of a new painting.

Zeng Fanzhi, Van Gogh III, 2017 © Zeng Fanzhi

Press

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