Qi Wen Zhang’s solo show “Self-Portrait” is not a mirror of the artist himself but a reflection of the individual experience (experience of the ‘self’) and the nostalgia for one’s ‘home town’. In order to enter the fantasy of an another world, the artist constructs a kind of three-dimensional ideological space. In order to console himself, the artist adopts this kind of painting style to expose the true face of today’s vulgar culture and absurd reality, provoking the so-called mainstream public’s opinion. He has not adapted his own style to fit trends in“Western style” or “internationalization”.

His works are concerned with today’s world, the state of affairs in painting, people’s experiences and the fate of intellectuals. Sometimes, reality itself becomes the source material, which prompts the artist to paint. At other times, his gaze might focus on a particular period in the history of painting; however one thing which he always stresses is the importance of the powerful emotion produced by the image.

Image: © Qi Wen Zhang, Platform China