Zhao Yang 赵洋

Zhao Yang’s work is influenced by his academic background in traditional Chinese painting, particularly one of its central tenets regarding the unpredictable flow of ink in water. He applies these traditional principles to figurative paintings, eschewing overt narrative, instead enfranchising the hermeneutical subjectivity of the viewer. Behind Zhao’s paintings, however, lies his imagination regarding the cessation of modern industrial civilization and a return to what he calls “paradise lost.”

Zhao Yang was born in Siping, Jilin, China, in 1970; he currently lives and works in Beijing. He graduated from China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China, in 1995. His recent solo exhibitions include Zhao Yang: Roma is a Lake, ShanghART Beijing (2019); Leave Far Away, Nova Contemporary, Bangkok, Thailand (2018); ALAYA, chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai (2018); Zhao Yang: In Between, Kuandu Museum, of Fine Arts, TNUA, Taipei (2016); “Zao” by ZHAO Yang, ShanghART H-Space, Shanghai (2016); and “Zao” by ZHAO Yang, ShanghART Main Space, Shanghai (2016). His recent group exhibitions include A Composite Leviathan, Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York (2019); Winter Exhibition, ShangART Beijing (2019); Symbols of Eternity, Shanghai Oil Painting Sculpture Institute, Shanghai (2019); New Art History, 2000-2018, Chinese Contemporary Art, MOCA Yinchuan, Yinchuan, China (2019); and on paper 2, White Space Beijing, Beijing (2018).