LANGUAGE AND TEXT: ARTISTS

ZHANG HUAN (CHINA)

Zhang Huan (b.1965 China, lives and works in New York)
Born in An Yang City, China in 1965, Zhang Huan obtained his MA in 1993 from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, and now resides and works in New York. Zhang Huan has distinguished himself internationally with his personal and often provocative photography, performances, and sculpture.

Artworks
Family Tree (2001) consisting of 9 Chromogenic prints of the face painted repeatedly until it turns into a black blotch. This reflects the current art scene where culture and individuals are obscured and subsumed into a global market.

Peace Bell
This is a large traditional bronze, Buddhist bell, covered with inscriptions of his family and struck with a gold life-size male figure. The text charts eight generations of Zhang Huan's ancestors, who are inscribed by name in Chinese characters on the bell's exterior. Beside the bell hangs a gilded cast of the artist's naked body — a surrogate for Zhang Huan himself — floating perpendicularly at chest height so that, when pushed, the figure's head sounds the bell.

Zhang Huan's Peace reveals many layers of the artist. The often spiritual rift between an immigrant's native and adopted cultures and the role of the public in physically engaging an artwork. Resembling those in traditional Chinese temples, the bell is a symbol for ritual and lineage and in striking it, Zhang Huan, a New York resident, is reunited with his native home and ancestry.

The Peace Bell tells Zhang Huan's story, and gestures towards that of the immigrant and the artist at large. Immigrating to a new country and expressing the experience artistically requires a certain objectivity which Zhang Huan implies in the distance between his surrogate and the bell and the figure's rigidity.

Audience
The audience has a direct input into the artwork by pushing the figure by the side or feet. In the change from audience to participant, from spectator to accomplice, the artwork has the ability to speak to the audience on many levels.

Zhang Huan, Family Tree # 1-9, (2001).
Incorporated colour coupler print, 1/8, nine panels
50 x 40” each

Like other Chinese contemporary artists, Zhang Huan has chosen to use the calligraphic form and the ancient tradition of writing, to strike at the heart of ancient cultural conventions. He uses postmodern techniques in his performance pieces; in using his body he is working with a form that defies and satirises the past concepts of perfection and permanence and he renders the text (a form of permanence and aesthetic tradition) both transient and useless.
In these particular artworks, he also obliterates himself, visually providing comment on skin colour, discrimination, life and death, family and social heritage and the ephemeral nature of the human race.

References

www.chinadaily.com.cn
A review of a variety of Zhang Huan’s performances with images.

media.smh.com.au
This is a Sydney Morning Herald site that contains a short video piece, reviewing the performance of Zhang Huan outside the Museum of Contemporary Art. It shows Zhang Huan performing My Sydney (2004) in which the artist combines cultural aspects of Chinese and Australia and finishes with the ringing of his Peace Bell. This is a large traditional Buddhist bell, covered with inscriptions of his family and struck with a gold life-size male figure.

Biography

1965 Born in An Yang City, He An Province, China
1988 BA, He Nan University, Kai Feng, China
1993 MA, Central Academy of fine Arts, Beijing, China
Lives and works in New York

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2006 Zhang Huan, Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin, Germany
Zhang Huan, Sherman Galleries, Sydney, Australia
2005 Seeds of Hamburg, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
2004 Seeds of Hamburg, Norton Museum of Art, Florida, USA.
La Fabrica Galeria, Madrid, Spain
Tri postal, Lille 2004. Cultural Capital of Europe, Lille, France
2003 Bochum Museum, Germany
Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin, Germany
Photo and Video, Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark
2002 Kunstverein Hamburg, Germany
2001 Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Museo das Peregrinacions, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Family Tree, Galerie Albreet Benamou, Paris, France
2000 My America, Deitch Projects, New York
Survey, Adam Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
Cotthem Gallery, Belgium
Cotthem Gallery, Barcelona
1999 Works From 1994-1998, Max Protetch Gallery, New York
Performance on Video, Artspace, Sydney, Australia
Performance, Artspace, Auckland, New Zealand
1988 He Nan University, Kai Feng Group Exhibitions
2006 Shoot the Family, Cranbrook Art Museum, Michigan, USA
2005 The Museum Collections, New Presentation of Art Works from 1960 to the Present Day, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Mahjong, Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Locus Loppem 2005, Kunsthalle Lophem, Lophem, Belgium
Between Skin and Orgasm--The Alchemistic Body, Kunsthalle Lophem, Centre for Contemporary Art, Lophem, Belgium
Monuments for the USA, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, USA
The Great Beyond, Kunstmuseum Thun, Thun, Switzerland
Text Me: An Exploration of Body Language, Sherman Galleries, Sydney, Australia
: Contemporary On the Edge Chinese Artists Encounter the West, Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Centre for Visual Arts, Stanford University, California, USA
Person of the Crowd, Contemporary Museum, Maryland, USA
Future Face, National Museum of Natural Science, Taiwan
The Wall, Reshaping Contemporary Chinese Art, The China Millennium Monument Art Gallery, Beijing, China
The Pictures of Dorian Gray, Galeria de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City, Mexico
Hoch Hinaus, Kunstmuseum Thun, Thun, Switzerland
2004 Witness, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
Regeneration, Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the US, Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Pennsylvania, USA
2003 Somewhere Better Than This Place, The Contemporary Arts Centre, Cincinnati, USA
Beaufort, Triennial for Contemporary Art by the Sea, The PMMK, the Museum of Modern Art, Ostend, Belgium
Art Project, DiverseWorks Artspace, Houston, USA
Temporal Mood, Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston, USA
Rituals, Academy of Arts, Berlin, Germany
Family Ties, Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, USA
Body Politics, Elga Wimmer Gallery, New York, USA
Windstil, Cotthem Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
Banquet, Metabolism and Communication, ZKM, Centre for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
Photo Espana 2003, International Photography Festival, Madrid, Spain
Phantom of Desire, Visions of Masochism in Art, Neue Galerie, Graz, Austria
Me and More, Museum of Art Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland
Come Rally, Basque Museum of Contemporary Art (Artium), Vitoria, Spain
Skin Deep, The Trento and Rovereto Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rovereto, Italy
2002 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum, New York
Skin Talks, Musee de la Civilisation, Quebec, Canada
Attachment+, Kunsthalle Lophem, Centre for Comtenporary Art, Belgium
China Contemporary Art Exhibition--Red Continent, Gwangju Art Museum, Korea
Paisajes del Cuerpo, Sala Zapateria 40, Pamplona, Spain
La Mirada Ajena, Artium, Vitoria, Spain
2001 Yokohama 2001: International Triennale of Contemporary Art, Pacifico Yokohama, Japan
Translated Acts, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany, and Queens Museum of Art, New York
The Gift, Centre of Contemporary Art, Siena, Italy
Subject Plural: Crowds in Contemporary Art, Contemporary Arts Museum, Texas
Metamorphosis and Cloning, Museum of Contemporary Art in Montreal, Canada
Naked, Wood Street Galleries, Pittsburgh
Lateral Thinking, Art of the 1990s, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego

2000 Art and Religion, Parkabdij Heverlee, Belgium (Organized by Museum S.M.A.K., Gent, Belgium
On the Edge of the Western World, Yerba Buena Centre of the Arts, San Francisco,CA
Emotional Rescue: The Contemporary Art Project Collection, Centre on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA
Utopia, Rogaland Kunstmuseum, Stavanger, Norway
Betreff, Expo 2000, Themenpark, Basic Needs, Hannover, Germany
Waterfront--Cultural Bridge 2000, Helsingborg Museum, Sweden and Danmark
Sharing Exoticisms, 5th Biennale de Lyon, Lyon, France
The Standard Projection: 24/7, The Standard Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
Video via Venice, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
Socialisms, Special Exhibition / Stockholm Art Fair, Sweden
6 Signals: Video by Contemporary Artists, Cheekwood, Nashville, TN
Potent /Present: Selections from the Vicki and Kent Logan Collection, CCAC Institute, Oakland, CA
1999 The Century of the Body: Photoworks 1900-2000, Culturgest, Lisbon, and Musee de LElysee, Lausanne, France
Last Paradise, Presenca Galeria, Portugal
Self-Portrait, Mercer Union, Centre for Contemporaty Art, Toronto, Canada
Five Continents and a City: Second International Salon of Painting, Museum of Mexico City, Mexico City, Mexico
Best of the Season, Aldrich Museum of Contemporaty Art, Rigefield, CT
Stories, A/C Projects, New York, NY
Summit, Galerie 5020, Salzburg, Austria
Art-Worlds in Dialogue, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
Risk Cinema, Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Zhang Huan: A Video Survery 1994-1998; Performance Art from China,
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand
La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
The Kent and Vicki Logan Collection, San Francisco, CA
Contemporary Collectors, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA
Transience: Chinese Art at the End of the Twentieth Century, The Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL
In Your Face, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA
1997 Chinese Contemporary Art 1997, Watari Museum, Tokyo, Japan
1996 China Art Festival, Munich, Germany
Art Material of Chinas Avant Garde, Fugang, Tokyo, Japan, Configura 2, Erfurt, Germany
1993 Graduate Show, Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing, China

Selected Performancese
2005 My Rome, Capitoline Museums, Rome, Italy
Untitled, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Untitled, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
2004 My Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
2003 Fifty Stars, The Contemporary Arts Centre, Cincinnati, USA
Buddhist Relics, DiverseWorks Artspace, Houston, USA
18 Years Old, Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Centre, Copenhagen, Danmark
Peace, Presented by Creative Time, Inc. As Part of Art on the Plaza, Ritz-Carlton, New York, Battery Park, New York, USA
Fifty Stars, Somewhere Better Than This Place, The Contemporary Arts Centre, Cincinnati, USA
Buddhist Relics, DiverseWorks Artspace, Houston, USA
2002 My New York, Whitney Biennial, New York
2001 My Japan, Yokohama 2001, International Triennale of Contemporary Art, Japan
Pilgrimage--Santiago, Museo das Perigrinacions, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Family Tree in Shanghai, Concept Photograph, Shang Hai, China
2000 Rubens, Parkabdij, Heverlee, Belgium (Organized by Museum S.M.A.K., Gent, Belgium
Flowers, Helsingborg Museum, Sweden
Family Tree, Concept Photograph, New York, NY
Chickenpox, Concept Photograph, New York, NY
My Australia, National Gallery of Australia, Australia
1999 Hard to Acclimatize, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Dream of the Dragon, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
My Pigeons, Concept Photograph, New York, NY
Sunshine Series, Concept Photograph, New York, NY
Breathe Series, Concept Photograph, Miami, FL
1998 Pilgrimage--Wind and Water in New York, Body Experiment, PS 1 Museum of Contemporary Art, Long Island City, NY
1/2 Series, Concept Photograph, Beijing, China
Foam Series, Concept Photograph, Beijing, China
1997 Skin Series, Concept Photograph, Beijing, China
To Raise the Water Level in a Fish Pond, Beijing, China
3006/m3:65KG, Watari Museum, Tokyo, Japan
1996 Nine Holes, Beijing, China
To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain, Beijing, China
Contact of the Third Kind, Second Concept and Experiment, Beijing, China
25mm Threading Steel, Complete One Hour Body Experiment, Beijing, China
Contact of the Third Kind, First Concept and Experiment, Beijing, China
Concept and Participation in the Original Sound, 10 Artists Performing Individually on a Common Theme in a Given Place, Dong Bian Men, Beijing, China
1994 65KG, One Hour Body Experiment in Beijing East Village, Private Studio 12m/2, One Hour Body Experiment in Beijing East Village, Public Toilet
1993 Angel, First Body Experiment, China National Art Gallery, Beijing, China
1992 Angel 1 and 2, Achievement of a Three Dimensional Work, Beijing
Memorial Series, Achievement of a Three Dimensional Work, Beijing Public Collections
Asia Museum of Fukuoka, Japan
Capital Research Company Collection, Hong Kong
The Denver Art Museum, Colorado
Emily Fisher Landau Collection, New York
Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan
The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
The Marieluise Hessel Foundtion Collection at Bard College, Centre for Curatorial Studies, Annendale-on-Hudson, New York
The Kent and Vicki Logan Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago, Illinois
Philip Morris Co. New York, New York
Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, California
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania
The Progressive Collection, Mayfield Village, Ohio
REFCO INC. Chicago, Illinois
Rubell Family Collection, Miami, Florida
University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley
The Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
Reed College, Portland, Oregon
Henry Art Gallery, Seattle
National Gallery of Australia, Australia
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea, Coleccion Fundacion ARCO, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Centro de Fotografia, Isla de Tenerife, Spain
S.M.A.K., Gent, Belgium
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle .