Yunyao Zhang

  • About
  • Yunyao Zhang is a Chinese artist living and working in Paris.
     
    Yunyao Zhang belongs to the new generation of Chinese artists and the artistic renaissance of Shanghai scene. Their outlooks are international. Neither political tensions nor social issues are part of their centers of interest. Zhang is initially a meticulous and talented draftsman. Attracted by the dramatic sense of the graphite, his technique and his intensity, he learns drawing in a meticulous manner to create depths, textures, and tons. His figurative and hyperrealist compositions, with an extraordinary precision and impressive proportion, are a signature as well as the depictions of classical, mythological and religious scenes. Their beauty, which have been immortalized by the old masters, continue to inspire him. Yunyao Zhang has been exhibited by Emmanuel Perrotin in 2017 and collected by Francois Pinault in 2020.
     
  • Artworks
    Close
  • Series
  • Medusa Series 2014 - 2023 14 works Medusa is the emblematic series of Yunyao Zhang. Fascinated by old masters as...
    © All Rights Reserved
    Medusa Series
    2014 - 2023
    14 works

     

    Medusa is the emblematic series of Yunyao Zhang. Fascinated by old masters as well as representations of classical, mythological and religious scenes, Medusa or Gorgon is a recurrent and striking image in his practice. This legendary character from Greek mythology is one of the primordial preolympian deities. Raped by Poseidon in a temple dedicated to Athena, she is punished by the same goddess who transforms her into a Gorgon. The three Gorgons are female creatures, fantastic and malefic, with hair made of snakes that can petrify in stone all those who cross their glance. They emit a terrifying and petrifying noise, a sharp screaming, inhumain, like the complaint that the dead emit from beyond the grave. They represent the fear in front of the death embodied by a fantasized feminine omnipotence. The Medusa is the most famous of the three Gorgons and the only mortal. She will be decapitated by Perseus whose head will be given to Athena. 

  • « The Medusa or Gorgon is now claimed as a powerful symbol of anger and power by feminist currents. »

    The representations will remain remarkably stable during centuries before being successively reinvented. The Medusa will go from divinity to monster then victim of a metamorphosis and a punishment which was unfair, until she becomes an archetype of the femme fatale. Today, she is claimed as a powerful symbol of anger and power by feminist currents. Yunyao Zhang's Medusa is not an usual image but a very personal and singular reinterpretation inspired by three major artworks. Two marble busts from the 17th century: The Medusa by the Italian sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini (The Louvre Collection) and The Marsyas by the German sculptor Balthasar Permoser (The Metropolitan Collection). As well as one bronze sculpture from the 16th century: Perseus Holding Medusa's Head by the Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini considered as a masterpiece of the Renaissance. The Laocoon of the Vatican Collection is also a source of inspiration.
  • Collections

  • PUBLIC COLLECTIONS :

     

    FONDATION FRANCOIS PINAULT, PARIS

     

    RESIDENCIES :

     

    2013         ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE, GLENFIDDICH, CANADA

     

    EDUCATION :

     

    2011         ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, SHANGHAI NORMAL UNIVERSITY, SHANGHAI

     

    SOLO SHOWS :

     

    2020         YUNYAO ZHANG, GALERIE MARGUO, PARIS

    2019         YUNYAO ZHANG, PALACE OF EXTASY, QIAO SPACE, SHANGHAI

    2017         YUNYAO ZHANG, SKIN GESTURE BODY, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2017         YUNYAO ZHANG, NEC SPE NEC METU, PERROTIN GALLERY, HONG KONG

    2015         YUNYAO ZHANG, AFTER EVENSONG, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2013         YUNYAO ZHANG, AFTER EVENSONG, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2013         YUNYAO ZHANG, TOUCH POINT, 01100001 GALLERY, BEIJING

    2013         YUNYAO ZHANG, MIRAGE, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2013         YUNYAO ZHANG, MY DARK LIFE, A STORY OF A KING AND HIS CLOWN, ART STAGE, SINGAPORE

    2011         YUNYAO ZHANG, PARADBOX, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

     

    GROUP SHOWS :

     

    2023         UNDER THE GAZE OF MEDUSE, FINE ART MUSEUM, CAEN
    2021         LOUIS 200, THE EXHIBITION, GALERIE LOUIS VUITTON, PARIS

    2021         OFF ROAD II, ZENO X GALLERY, ANTWERP

    2021         POPERINGE, WATOU ARTS FESTIVAL, WATOU

    2021         IDOLES, L’ART DES CYCLADES ET DE L’ANATOLIE A L’AGE DE BRONZE, MUSEE FENAILLE, RODEZ

    2021         PRESENTATION OF MARGUO ARTISTS, GALERIE MARGUO, PARIS

    2020         SUMMER EXHIBITION, ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS, LONDON

    2019         EPITHET PORTRAYED, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2019         SWALLOW IT, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2018         STEADFASTLY RAISE THE STANDARDS IN NONPRODUCTIVE CONSTRUCTION, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2017         SHANGHAI DANDY, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2016         WE, CHI K11 ART MUSEUM, SHANGHAI

    2015         OBSERVER - CREATOR, CAFA, BEIJING

    2015         MOMENTS, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2014         PRESENT, ING RECITAL LOUDER THAN PAINT, SHANGHAI GALLERY OF ART, SHANGHAI

    2013         ABUSE, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2013         PLUS FOLLOW, MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, SHANGHAI

    2013         POLYPHONY, 21 KINDS OF STATE, ART MUSEUM OF NANJING UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, NANJING

    2012         OUTDATED, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2012         THE HALO EFFECT, V ART CENTER, SHANGHAI

    2011         WE ARE HERE, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2011         DAILY, QINGHE CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM, NANJING

    2011         SH CONTEMPORARY, SHANGHAI EXHIBITION CENTER, SHANGHAI

    2011         IF, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2011         PLUS FOLLOW, MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, SHANGHAI

    2011         XINZHUANG, THE STORIES OF FIVE YOUTHS, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2011         CONTEMPORARY CHINA, WANDESFORD QUAY GALLERY, CORK

    2010         CHORUS, DON GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2009         4 BERLINER TREFFEN 8 CHINESEN, NOTHING ART, BERLIN

    2008         SUMMER AUCTION OF CHINESE WORKS OF ART, EASTLINK GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2007         AUTUMN AUCTION OF CHINESE WORKS OF ART, EASTLINK GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2007         HOMEWORLD, XIANGJIANG GALLERY, SHANGHAI

    2006         ME US, WU XING GALLERY, SHANGHAI

Back to exhibitions