Zhang Dali

June 29, 2012 Art, Painting

Multidisciplinary artist born in 1963, Zhang Dali comments the mutation of the chinese society, the transformation of Beijing and the way the regime works for oblivion. During the 90′s, after traveling to Italy where he discovered the expressive force of graffiti, Zhang Dali paints or carves his bold face on the fronts of the buildings marked to be demolished. He was the only active street artist in the Capital during that decade. Through this action, he questions the massive destruction of houses, proportionally superior to those of London and Berlin during WWII, to build modern dwellings intended for the wealthy classes.

Demolition, 2001
C-print (170 x 120 cm)

Slogan and AK-47 feed the same mind as Zhang Dali uses this time the image of workers from the construction industry to question the town-planning choices and segregations. In the first series, combining the famous slogans of the regime, he portrays these invisible, and though essential, workers. In the second one, he repeats the process writing AK-47, as symbol of the violence made to them.

Chinese Offspring also worries about the lot given to the proletarian populations of Beijing. The installation presents sculptures made of resin, with their effigies, numbered and hung by the feet. Zhang Dali stresses in such a way the uncertain and vulnerable aspect of their existences. Lastly, A Second History goes back over the selective History promoted by the party. The artist combines touched up pictures, object of the chinese propaganda, with the originals. An explicit demonstration of the manipulation exercised by the authorities.

Zhang Dali’s artworks have been exhibited worldwide, from London to New York, Milan and Tokyo.