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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 technicity and 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
Series
The Medusa Series
2014 - 2023
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.
Resume
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
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