|
ZHANG Dali, <Dialogue-Bologna 199371>, C-p rint, 60x90cm, 1993 © artist
ZHANG Dali, <Dialogue-Xinglong Hutong 199593A>, C-p rint, 60x90cm, 1995 © artist
ZHANG Dali, <Dialogue-Deshengmen 199583>, C-p rint, 60x90cm,1995 © artist
ZHANG Dali, <Bumming in Beijing>, Single channel video, 1990 © artist
[China] ZHANG Dali Dialogue-Bologna 199371 Dialogue-Xinglong Hutong 199593A Dialogue-Deshengmen 199583 Bumming in Beijing
One of the first contemporary artists in China who had a concern in people’s livelihood, and one of the first to make graffiti on the street, Zhang Dali’s Dialogue series became known as early as the 1990s. Reality is a spiritual drive and resource in his art world. In Dialogue, the iconic head silhouette appropriating the artist’s own portrait appeared in selected locations amongst Beijing’s demolition sites. The artist then carved out the head shape on the wall, allowing the scenery to be seen through it and be documented. The sense of destruction and participation converge into the artist’s multiple and indispensible choices between the thought of the artist and the unstoppable urbanization of the city. Directed by Wu Wenguang, Bumming in Beijing represents the “renegade” youths from a different angle, including Zhang Dali of the 1980s, pursuing pure artistic ideals, and their seemingly optimistic yet awkward life experiences. Zhang has always adopted multiple mediums to explore ways of representing his subjects, and on the relationship between artistic medium with time and space, probing how art intervenes in reality, reflects and questions the issues created in the process of our cultural and social development. Of which, the audience may resonate sensually and mentally from the field he has created. |
