Zhao Gang was born in Beijing in 1961 and grew up during the Cultural Revolution. In the late 70’s and early 80’s, Zhao Gang took part in the Stars collective and had his first exhibitions with the group. Today, the Stars remain the most well-known group of independent artists in post-Mao China. In 1983 Zhao Gang left the country and went to Europe to study art before he settled in New York for 20 years. In his creations, Zhao Gang uses his memories of this period of history as a prism with which to view his own country from the perspective of an outsider. Wedding scenes, portraits, as well as Cultural Revolution inspired paintings are all a little reminder given by the artist to his audience of a past frame of mind and a previous social spirit that is painted with lightness and humour in a contemporary perspective. The balance of the works is often broken by the artist who adds Chinese characters on the picture, blurs and masks the faces he just painted.

As a famous Chinese artist abroad Zhao Gang has a large influence within the art world, he has participated in many important exhibitions in New York, Europe and Hong Kong, and his works are part of international collections.