Zhang Dali was born in 1963 in Harbin, Manciuria, in the north of the People’s Republic of China. In 1987 he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Zhang Dali’s work actively engages with the rapidly changing environment in China. Zhang started working in portraiture as one of Beijing’s first graffiti artists, spraying and carving heads into the walls of the hundreds of buildings scheduled for destruction. Working across a wide variety of media – from urban art, to archiving photographs of Mao, and large scale installations. Zhang’s portraits document a contemporary social history of a culture in radical development and flux. or his paintings Zhang Dali gets his inspiration from old postcards of peasants and operators portraying their faces by the oppressing repetitions of the AK47 initial that renders their faces and their expressions almost evanescent.
Noticable collections: Saatchi Gallery (London), Museum of Modern Art (New York).
Zhang Dali 180 by 150 cm
Zhang Dali 182 by 223 cm
Zhang Dali 151 by 100cm
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Selected Exhibitions
2010
Group art show, Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, USA
Zhang Dali Solo Show, 18 Gallery, Shanghai, China (solo)
2009
A second history, Zhang Dali Solo Show, SZ Art Center, Beijing, China (sol0)
Chasing Flames, Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, USA
In the 1980s – Wen Pulin Archive of Chinese Avant-garde Art Exhibition, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
Works on paper, ShiNe Art Space, Shanghai, China
Calligraffiti: Writing in Contemporary Chinese and Latino Art – Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, USA
Re-imagining Asia – The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall, West Midlands, United Kingdon
The very condition, Wall Art Museum, Beijing, China
Pervasion – works by Zhang Dali, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Beijing, China (solo)
2008
The Revolution Continues, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
SLOGANS, Kiang Gallery, Atlanta, GA (solo)
Re-Imagining Asia, Der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany
Face East: Chinese Contemporary Art, Robischon Gallery, Denver, USA
Among the Ruins: Re-Imagining Architectural Decay, Space 301, Mobile, USA
Go China, Groninger Museum, The Netherlands
2007
Saatchi Gallery, London Individual Eras, Chinese Contemporary Gallery, Beijing, China
Zhang Dali Solo Exhibition, Chinese Contemporary Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
RED HOT – Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
Zhu Yi! Chinese Contemporary Photography, ARTIUM de Alaca, Spain
2006
Sublimation – A New Project by Zhang Dali, Walsh Gallery, Chicago, USA (solo)
China now – Kunst in Zeiten des Umbruchs, Sammlung Essl – Kunsthaus, Klosterneuburg
2005
The game of Realism, Beijing Commune Gallery, Beijing, China (solo)
Mayfly, Beijing Commune Gallery, Beijing, China (solo)
The Wall, Millennium Museum, Beijing, China
XIANFENG:Chinese Contemporary Sculpture exhibition, Museum Beelden aan Zee, Holland
2004
Triennial of Photography, ICP, New York, USA
Summer Exhibition, Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery, London, UK
Me!Me!Me!, The Court Yard Gallery, Beijing, China
Inaugural Exhibition, Chinese Contemporary Beijing, China
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, International Center for Photography, New York, USA
Regeneration, Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell Univ., Lewisburg, PA, & touring USA
2003
Left Hand – Right Hand, 798 Space, Beijing, China
Festival Internazionale di Roma, L’Officina-Arte del Borghetto Rome, Italy
China-Germany Art, factory 798, Beijing, China
The Logan Collection, Denver Art Museum, Denver, USA
2002
Headlines, Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery, London, UK (solo)
Base Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (solo)
The Second Pingyao International Photography Festival, Shanxi Province, China
New Photography from China, Beijing, China
Nan Xiao Jie Demolition Moving Exhibition, Nan Xiao Jie, Beijing, China
A Decade of Experimental Chinese Art, Guangzhou Triennial Guangdong Museum of Art, Er-Sha Island, Guangzhou, China
Asian Party, Global Game, Chinese Contemporary at ARCO Madrid, Spain
2001
Cross Pressures, Oulu City Art Museum, Finland
Hot Pot, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway
China Art Now, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Contemporary Chinese Photography, Finland Museum of Photography, Helsinki & Oulu Art Museum, Oulu
Group Exhibition, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing, China
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Osaka Triennale, Osaka – awarded the Bronze Medal
2000
AK-47, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing, China (solo)
Dialogue-Shanghai, Courtyard Gallery, Shanghai, China (solo)
Summer Group Exhibition, Chinese Contemporary Gallery, London, UK
Dystopia+Identity in the age of Global Communication, Tribes Gallery, New York, USA
Fuck Off, Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai, China
Everyday Attitude, Upriver Gallery, Chengdu, China
Serendipity, The Japan Foundation Asia Center, Tokyo, Japan
Food as Art, Club Vogue, Beijing, China
Thought Brand Meat Mincer (performance), Dongsi 8 Tiao, Beijing, China
Artistes Contemporains Chinois, Musee des Tapisseries, Aix-en-Provence
Anthropology of the Landscape, Lang Island, Guilin, China
Transparence, Opacite?ACAVA-De Martken, Brussels
1999
Chinese Contemporary Gallery, London (solo)
Demolition and Dialogue, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing & Shenzhen (solo)
Beijing in London, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, UK
Food for Thought, Mu Art Foundation, Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Contemporary Chinese Art, Literature & Culture, Bard College, New York, USA
Group exhibition, Cypress College & BC Space Gallery, Cypress, California, USA
Contemporary Chinese Photography, Chulalongkom Museum, Bangkok, Thailand
Departure from China (The World is Yours – performance), Design Museum, Beijing, China
Unveiled Reality, Art Beatus Gallery, Vancouver
Corruptionists, Beijing, China
1998
Green Dog and Masters, Chinese Contemporary, London, UK
China Art Gallery, Beijing, China
11th Tallinn Triennial, Tallinn, Estonia
Lehman College, New York, USA
P-House Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1997
National Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
1994
Peter Dunsch Gallerie, Essen, Germany (solo)
Goethe Institute Gallery, Torino
Graphic Arts Experimentation Laboratory Mario Leoni Deborah, Bologna
1993
Galleria Studio 5, Bologna (solo)
Neon Gallery, Bologna
Spazio Navile Gallery, Bologna
Galleria dei Tribunali, Bologna (solo)
1991
Rocca Municipale, Montefiorino, Italy (solo)
1990
La Rupe Gallery, Bologna (solo)
1987
National Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China (solo)