However, works of Zhang Jingli indicate the quiet return of individual subject consciousness. All his works are grounded on his real emotion experience, which expresses in-depth confusion of artists about nature of human and their highlight on painful experience of life and conventional feelings. This is a sincere and serious “sober” emotion attitude different from that ridiculous and joking “soft” life style, of which the personality feature of self-tracing, self-bearing and self-affirmation at the same time is implicated.

Zhang Jingli was a stern social observer before 2008. The metaphorical description of his works about the knockabout, jumbly China social state which is full of daunting vigor implicates the deep concern of the generation about the high-speed social state out of control. When it came to 2008, the image elements in the artist’s works gradually became singular. The work composed of flying birds of different forms reveals the social essence, law of the jungle, and the blind, helpless heartfelt of individual lives in dangerous survival circumstances. The work, comprised of classic motion picture images of Monkey King familiar to Chinese people, tries to express the internal sensitive and heavy survival anxiety in the relaxed and humorous atmosphere. By then he is focused on unveiling of individual spirit experience mixed with the social physiology of a specific period in China.

The images created by paintings may not be comparable to those of popular cultures, so his paintings directly select figures and objects in the real world. He intends to find the territory of painting, which is out of the reach of images of popular culture, and reserve some irreplaceable tension during art ideation process of painting through those fragments full of conflicts in his works.

1970    Born in Nanyang City, Henan, China
1991    Graduated from Department of Fine Arts, Nanyang Normal University
2000    Gradated from graduate student class, Printmaking Department, China Central Academy of Fine Arts

Group Exhibitions

2009    Reflection-2009’ New Art World Invitation Exhibition, XihuGallery, Hangzhou
Reflection-2009’ New Art World Invitation Exhibition, Wall Art Museum, Beijing
Conventional Exhibition of Asia Art Center, Asia Art Center, Beijing
2008    Night Walk: Group Exhibition of Contemporary New Artists, Asia Art Center, Beijing
2006    The 2nd DECAA, Art Scene China, Shanghai
2005    The 1st DECAA, Art Scene China, Shanghai
1999    Printmaking Work Group Exhibition of graduate student class, Printmaking Department, China Central Academy of Fine Arts, National Art Museum of China