Platform China (Beijing) presents ”The Khitans: Zhao Gang Solo Exhibition”, which will display a selection of Zhao Gang’ s most recent works.

Zhao Gang is an artist of Manchurian decent, living and working in Beijing. He has a peevish and rebellious streak character. He had previously participated in the famous "The Stars Group Exhibition” in late 1970s; and thereafter, studied in the Netherlands before moving to the U.S. These experiences have shaped him as a artist and being exposed to both Eastern and Western cultural backgrounds and different ideologies heavily influenced his art.

In his contemporary art practice, Zhao Gang uses the historical figure of the Khitans, whose history dates back to the 4th century, when they dominated much of Mongolia and modern Manchuria. By the 10th century, however, their reign eventually collapsed. Zhao Gang has created an identity for the Khitan People whose virtual presence in history was once significant, but is now defunct. He appropriates it to himself, by placing himself into this virtual era for painting.

Through the shapes and colors of contemporary painting, Zhao Gang directs and violently builds a personal cultural history, through which he contrasts and compares our contemporary cultural ecology. Using painting as a medium, Zhao Gang embarks on a personal exploration of the source of power for new things: the subsequent context for and the pattern of growth after a culture suffers external invasion, destruction and integration. He uses the virtual identity of Khitan People to explore the ontological issues in contemporary painting and seeks out new possibilities.

*image (left)
© Zhao Gang
courtesy of the artist and Platform China