Zhang Yanzi’s latest solo exhibition in Australia featured her new series of “Hormones”

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TEXT：SUE WANG DATE： 2019.9.10

Hormones

Hormones, (from Greek Polytonic|ὁρμή impetus ) are chemicals released by cells that affect cells in other parts of the body.

Does this impetus, originate from instinct or will?

Are Hormones physical or spiritual?

When something exists in our bodies, it seems to be invisible. Only when it recedes from the body, can you find its fading way, or slightly figure out its shape.

Hormones in my eyes, are colorful.

Zhang Yanzi

8th July, 2019

Zhang Yanzi, an artist that currently works at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, introduces a new solo ink and wash exhibition, Hormones which continues her long-standing interest in the connection between life and the world, as well as her interpretations themed on “life and remedy” using a rich artistic language that has been her style for many years. The exhibition was co-organized by the Victoria Artists Society and HUAAO International Media and it was presented at the Gallery of Victoria Artists Society. The word “Hormones” is quite eye-catching but actually it stems from a life experience as it originates from a box of oval hormone stickers sent to her by a friend, which made her start to consider this mysterious thing.

It is hard to detect hormones when they are in our body, but when they leave the body, we find that we once owned them. This triggered her to think, are the hormones material or spiritual? Is it an instinct or is it decided by one’s will? For the artist Zhang Yanzi, art is a process of continuous exploration. As a creator, she has been searching for infinity, a more mysterious and far-reaching logic of the universe from a limited life experience.

As Ms. Zou Bin, the cultural consul of the Chinese Embassy in Melbourne, said that there are 400,000 Chinese living in Melbourne, the demand for Chinese culture is endless. This exhibition did not just feature new creations that have been explored from the ancient ink language and realized through contemporary transformation, but it also reflected the future of Chinese art – the use of cross-cultural, cross-media thinking and new media language.

About the artist

Zhang Yanzi was born in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province. Graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Zhang got her MFAs in both Chinese Painting and Literature. She is currently based in Beijing and she works at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and serves as a tutor for graduates. Her solo exhibitions were held respectively at Shanghai Art Museum, Today Art Museum, PAN, Palazzo delle Arti di Napoli, Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, Surgeons’ Hall Museums and Museum of East Asian Art (MEAA). Besides, her works have been included in the collections of many art institutions and private collections.

Selected Exhibitions

2019

SECLUSION: Zhang Yanzi Solo Exhibition at Galerie Ora-Ora, Hong Kong;

Medi-Chip and Sugar, included in “Reviewing Freehand Brushwork: First Academic Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Ink Painting” at Lingnan Museum of Fine Art, Dongguan, China;

2018

0000000 included in “New Ink Art in China 1978-2018” at Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China;

Medi-Chip and Prescriptions, included in “2018 Chinese Contemporary Ink Painting Exhibition: Ink and Wash Painting, A Cultural Gesture”, at Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing, China;

A Quest for Wellness: Zhang Yanzi Solo Exhibition at the Museum of East Asian Art (MEAA), Bath, U.K.;

A Quest for Healing: Zhang Yanzi Solo Exhibition at Surgeons’ Hall Museum, Edinburgh, U.K.;

2017

Sugar, participated in the exhibition “PERSONAL STRUCTURES” included in the biennale project organized by European Cultural Centre, Venice;

The Ecstasy: Zhang Yanzi Solo Exhibition at Feefan’s Art, Beijing, China;

The Remedy included in Florence Biennale in Italy and awarded with “Grand Prize of Mixed Media”, Florence, Italy;

Infinite series included in “Loom”at Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Museum and served as the Co-curator, Suzhou, China;

Excess included in the Group Exhibition “The Silk Road and Celestial Clothes” at the Art Gallery of Imperial Ancestral Temple and served as the Co-curator, Beijing, China;

Zhang Yanzi Solo Project included in Volta New York 2017, New York, U.S.A.;

2016

The Breathable included in The Third CAFAM Biennial “Negotiating Space: I Never Thought You Were Like That”, Beijing, China;

Essence: Zhang Yanzi Solo Exhibition at Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, Hong Kong (Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences × Galerie Ora-Ora);

2015

The Remedy—The Galaxy included in “Painting the Present” at the Certosa di San Giacomo, Capri in Italy;

The Antidote: Zhang Yanzi’s Exhibition at 5art, Guangzhou, China;

The Remedy included in Insights, Art Basel Hong Kong, sponsored by Galerie Ora-Ora, Hong Kong;

2014

THE REMEDY: Solo Show of Zhang Yanzi at PAN, Palazzo delle Arti di Napoli, Italy;

2013

The Remedy was awarded the Best Artwork of 2013 Lu Xun Culture Awards, Beijing, China;