by Zhang Peili

Zhang Peili has been a leading figure in the Chinese contemporary art scene for since the mid-1980s. Utilizing video as his main medium, he is largely considered as the first Chinese video artist and has influenced generations of artists across the country.

Zhang Peili focuses his work on exposing the paradoxical relationship between man and the world. The world is unfathomable. And our existence is a permanent negotiation with ontological anxiety. Human efforts to understand it begin from a position of isolation and result in a profound sense of pointlessness. This manifests the state of mind of a generation of Chinese who grew up in the transition from a closed and stagnant Cultural Revolution to cultural liberation, social reform and the current globalisation. However, he sees these changes as ultimately idle and absurd. Inspired by major modern figures such as Bertolt Brecht and Samuel Beckett, he has developed a language that emphasizes distanced, neutral position in order to create a space that allows him more freedom to ponder upon the relationship between man and the world. With now historically significant piece like “30X30”(1988), “Uncertain Pleasure” (1996), “Magician” (2002), and more recent “Mute” (2008) and “ A Gust of Wind” (2009), numerous others, Zhang Peili has produced a large, complex and powerful body of work. Over the time, his work has evolved towards overwhelming spatialisations of this vision. His meticulous and precise explorations of cinematographic language and technological possibilities provided by the new media further perfect his imaginations and expressions. They are increasingly endowed with a profoundly compelling quality of poesy, and even epic-ness…

Zhang Peili’s mode of artistic production, while pursuing ultimate sophistication, generates a  quasi-philosophical mode of perception, reflection and expression. It’s widely embraced by a great part of the art community and referred by them as a rich source of inspiration. The emerging generation including Yang Fudong, Yang Zhenzhong, Lu Chunsheng, Kan Xuan, etc. who are now gaining great local and global recognitions are all influenced by this master. More importantly, Zhang Peili is the main founder of the first new media department in the Chinese art education system. His pedagogical efforts have been immensely fruitful…

1957 Born in Hangzhou, China
1984 Graduated from the oil painting department，Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China

Solo Exhibitions

2008 Mute: Zhang Peili’s Solo Exhibition, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, China

Group Exhibitions

2010     Jungle: A Close-Up Focus on Chinese Contemporary Art Trends, Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Beijing

2009    eARTS BEYOND Shanghai International Gallery Exhibition of Media Art, Shanghai eARTS Festival, Shanghai

              WARM UP, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai

             Media Art China 2009: Timelapse, A Swiss-China Media Art Exhibition，National Art Museum of China, Beijing