O Zhang
Encyclopedia
China Central Academy of Fine Arts
China Central Academy of Fine Arts or CAFA is the only advanced academy of fine arts under direct charge of Department of Education in China. The Manila Bulletin called the school "China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy"...
in Beijing before moving to London where she earned two MAs, the first in Fine Arts from Byam Shaw, St. Martins School of Art in Fine Arts
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. The school has an outstanding international reputation, and is considered one of the world's leading art and design institutions...
, and the second from the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
in Photography. In 2004 Zhang moved to New York City where she has since lived and worked, making yearly returns to her native China. O Zhang is represented by CRG Gallery
CRG Gallery
CRG Gallery, NY is a gallery on West 22nd Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. CRG was founded in 1990 by Carla Chammas, Richard Desroche, and Glenn McMillan, a trio which shares extensive academic and professional experience in contemporary art, each having worked for major...
, NY, which will present her first American solo exhibition, The World Is Yours (But Also Ours), in December, 2008. Zhang is also represented by Pékin Fine Arts
Pékin Fine Arts
Pékin Fine Arts , is a contemporary art gallery in Beijing established in 2005. It was listed by The New York Times as one of the "top museums and galleries" in Beijing, and listed by Forbes as one of the ten galleries in Beijing from which to buy Chinese art.-History:The gallery was established by...
in Beijing and by FA Projects in London.
Childhood
Zhang was born in the city of GuangzhouGuangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
to English-translator parents who were forced, by the Chinese Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
government, to move to the edge of Jishou
Jishou
Jishou is a county-level city and the seat of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hunan province of thePeople's Republic of China.-History:...
, a village in the Hunan Province, soon after Zhang’s birth. In the countryside Zhang was exposed to and learned the language of ethnic minority groups like the Miao
Miao people
The Miao or ม้ง ; ) is an ethnic group recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component nations of people, which include Hmong, Hmu, A Hmao, and Kho Xiong...
and the Tujia, and demonstrated her ability to adapt to situations where she was an “outsider.” Zhang remembers her childhood as “very peaceful and colorful,” and notes that this is where she established the foundation for her aesthetic preferences.
China: Guangzhou and Beijing
After six and a half years in JishouJishou
Jishou is a county-level city and the seat of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hunan province of thePeople's Republic of China.-History:...
, Zhang and her parents moved back to Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, which she considers to be her hometown. Zhang studied art at the Guangzhou Children’s Palace, the Guangzhou Academy of Art affiliate Middle School and at nineteen she left Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
to attend the Central Academy of Fine Arts
China Central Academy of Fine Arts
China Central Academy of Fine Arts or CAFA is the only advanced academy of fine arts under direct charge of Department of Education in China. The Manila Bulletin called the school "China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy"...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. It was in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
that Zhang discovered photography, yet to her dismay the Central Academy
China Central Academy of Fine Arts
China Central Academy of Fine Arts or CAFA is the only advanced academy of fine arts under direct charge of Department of Education in China. The Manila Bulletin called the school "China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy"...
did not have a photography department. Thus, Zhang taught herself photography technique after hours when she often snuck into the school studios with models in order to shoot. For her first series, Masterpieces in my Eyes, Zhang projected images of Western figurative masterpieces on nude female models and photographed them in an effort to impose, “the male standards of female form” upon the models. Zhang graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts
China Central Academy of Fine Arts
China Central Academy of Fine Arts or CAFA is the only advanced academy of fine arts under direct charge of Department of Education in China. The Manila Bulletin called the school "China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy"...
in 2000.
United Kingdom: London
Zhang states that after graduating from the Central AcademyChina Central Academy of Fine Arts
China Central Academy of Fine Arts or CAFA is the only advanced academy of fine arts under direct charge of Department of Education in China. The Manila Bulletin called the school "China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy"...
she, “wanted to go abroad to see the outside world,” so she moved to London to study at Byam Shaw, Saint Martins College of Art & Design
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. The school has an outstanding international reputation, and is considered one of the world's leading art and design institutions...
and made two new series, Water Moon (2001–02) and Black Hair. For Water Moon, Zhang employed the same method used in Masterpieces in my Eyes, however, she projected Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
erotic paintings, which were outlawed in China, on faceless models. For Black Hair, Zhang photographed the wet hair of Asian women arranged in brush-like “strokes” on their backs, mimicking Chinese characters. One critic writes of the series, “The hair represents a significant and lasting genetic trait of Asian women and is therefore a symbol of survival, and Chinese writing is still a lasting tradition, yet both are out of context, the writing is not on paper and the woman is in a Western tub”. Zhang received her second MA in London at The Royal College of Art where she began to plan her next project that would involve her returning to China, Horizon (2004).
Horizon
Zhang’s inspiration for Horizon came from the Chinese Cultural RevolutionCultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
slogan, “rebellion is the rule.” Her goal was to produce a series of images that question current assumptions about the primacy of western power. The installation consists of a three row grid of photographs: on the top young Chinese girls squat on the hill looking down to the viewer, in the middle row’s girls eyes are at the viewer’s eye level and in the bottom row the girls are placed in a field of grass and look up to the viewer. The positioning of the horizon-line is consistent from photo to photo so that throughout each row the images merge to become one larger landscape. London critic JJ Charlesworth writes of the series:
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- O Zhang photographs small Chinese girls as they crouch down and stare back at the camera. Dominating the frame and the spectator, Zhang's little subjects offer oddly sinister and uncomprehending expressions. The West's self-conscious fascination with contemporary China reverberates through Zhang’s portraits, which co-opt the brand-logo myth of childhood innocence and global harmony, making her endearing subjects alien, monstrous and threatening.
Daddy and I
Zhang’s next series, Daddy and I, concerns itself with adolescent adopted Chinese girls and their adoptive American Caucasian fathers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Oregon. Since 1991, when China loosened its adoption law, American families have adopted more than 55,000 Chinese children, almost all girls.Zhang, in a speech given on WPS1 Art Radio
WPS1
Art Radio WPS1.org was the Internet radio station of P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and the Museum of Modern Art from April 2004 - January 1, 2009. It provided a 24-hour stream and on-demand archive of cultural programming...
, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center on March 27 of 2008, discusses what questions motivated her to move forward with the Daddy and I project. She states:
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- By photographing adopted Chinese girls and their Western fathers in America, I try to capture the affection between a female child and an adult male. What is the nature of this complex relationship, especially when different ethnic and cultural backgrounds are introduced? … Through the relationship of the emerging feminine power of the adolescent girl to the mature father, each image explores the unfathomable relation of the two inseparable, yet often divided cultures: East and West.
Criticisms
Some critics see the works as manipulative and claim that the girls look like “Thai Lolitas,” while others argue that it is necessary to realize that the work feeds into common stereotypes and concepts of political correctness, thus making the images more than they are and asking the viewer not to submit their interpretations to stereotypes.The World is Yours (But Also Ours)
Zhang’s most recent project, The World is Yours (But Also Ours), completed in July–August 2008, will be shown at the Frieze Art Fair 2008 and the CRG Gallery, NY in December 2008. The images depict Chinese youth wearing American style tee-shirts featuring "ChinglishChinglish
Chinglish refers to spoken or written English language that is influenced by the Chinese language. The term "Chinglish" is commonly applied to ungrammatical or nonsensical English in Chinese contexts, and may have pejorative or deprecating connotations, reflecting the attitudes of those who apply...
" statements and bordered with Chinese Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
-era propaganda slogans. In doing so the series visually captures conflicts in modern day Chinese culture, such as communist legacy vs. recent rapid economic development and traditional culture vs. western popular culture, thus encapsulating the identity crisis facing Chinese youth and modern China.
Current projects
Zhang is currently working on a Chinese book that documents her experiences as a Chinese art student living in London titled, An Empire Where The Moon Light Never Fades. It will be published by Shanghai Art and Literature Publishing House in January 2009.[25]http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Where-Light-Never-Chinese/dp/B001PRQ6ZA
O Zhang is working on a solo exhibition at the Queens Museum of Art. Cutting the Blaze to New Frontiers marks the 70th anniversary of the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair. The project harkens back to its inspirational theme “the Dawn of a New Day” against the backdrop of today’s financial crisis. The artist assembled a miniature fair in collaboration with a group of Queens youth of immigrant parents. Having never visited their parents’ countries of origin, the young participants imagined their own “motherland” as a national pavilion. Her mini-Fair reflects the increasingly complex cultural demographics of Queens and its inimitable vigor as the future of the nation.
http://www.queensmuseum.org/o-zhang-cutting-the-blaze-to-new-frontiers
Future projects
Zhang is commissioned by Chinatown Art Space and Royal Opera House in London to make a short film about Anna May Wong (1905–61), the first Asian-American actress who gained a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Of Anna And Dreams is a modern and artistic interpretation of her three dreams exploring three themes in her life: Fear, Identity Complex and Lust for Love.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1634823/
Awards
Zhang is a participant in the Artists Residency Program at Queens Museum of ArtQueens Museum of Art
The Queens Museum of Art is an art museum and educational center located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City, United States.-Overview:...
, New York and is the recipient of fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
, and the Wilson Centre for Photography. She was awarded the Fuji Film Student Award and The Royal College of Photography
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
Graduate Award and was nominated/short-listed for The Chinese Contemporary Art Award, Beck's Futures Award
Beck's Futures
Beck's Futures was a British art prize founded by London's Institute of Contemporary Arts and sponsored by Beck's beer given to contemporary artists....
, The Creative Capital Awards and The Louis Comfort Biennial Award
The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation
The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation was founded in 1918 by Louis Comfort Tiffany to operate his estate, Laurelton Hall, in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. It was designed to be a summer retreat for artists and craftspeople...
. Zhang was the first student from mainland China to receive the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
MA Photography degree which requires an approval honor by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
.
Public collections
- Solomon R. Guggenheim MuseumSolomon R. Guggenheim MuseumThe Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
, New York - Santa Barbara Museum of ArtSanta Barbara Museum of ArtThe Santa Barbara Museum of Art is an art museum located at 1130 State St. in downtown Santa Barbara, California.It was founded in 1941 and currently ranks amongst the top 10 regional art museums in the United States . It is home to both permanent and special collections, the former of which...
, California - Millennium Monument Art Museum, Beijing
Selected Solo exhibitions
- 2010:A Splendid Future for the Past, Forever & Today Gallery, New York, U.S.A
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- O Zhang - Horizon, Dirimart Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
- 2009:Cutting The Blaze To New Frontiers, Queen’s Museum, New York, U.S.A.
- A Stream Bends For A Thousand Li, Asian Song Society, New York, U.S.A.
- Horizon (Sky), public art project, Vancouver Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
- 2008:The World is Yours (But Also Ours), CRG GalleryCRG GalleryCRG Gallery, NY is a gallery on West 22nd Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. CRG was founded in 1990 by Carla Chammas, Richard Desroche, and Glenn McMillan, a trio which shares extensive academic and professional experience in contemporary art, each having worked for major...
, New York, NY - 2007:Daddy & I, Pékin Fine Art Gallery, Beijing, China
- 2005:My Little Girl, IMT GalleryIMT GalleryIMT Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Bethnal Green in London's East End.-History:IMT Gallery was founded by Lindsay Friend in 2005 and launched with the first London solo exhibition by O Zhang. Other artists to have been given their first London solo exhibitions with IMT Gallery include...
, London, UK
- 2008:The World is Yours (But Also Ours), CRG Gallery
- Horizon, Chinese Art Center, Manchester, UK
- O Zhang - Horizon, Dirimart Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
External links
- CRG Gallery website
- O Zhang's website
- Pékin Fine Arts website
- FA Projects website
- http://www.wps1.org/new_site/content/view/2213/Zhang's speech on WPS1WPS1Art Radio WPS1.org was the Internet radio station of P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and the Museum of Modern Art from April 2004 - January 1, 2009. It provided a 24-hour stream and on-demand archive of cultural programming...
] - Blog discussing Zhang's August 2008 on National Public Radio
- DİRİMART website