Zeng Fanzhi

Zeng Fanzhi (Chinese曾 梵志, Zeng Fanzhi Pinyin; born 1964 in Wuhan, People's Republic of China) is a contemporary, Chinese painter. He lives and works in Beijing.

Life and work

Born in 1964 Zeng Fanzhi Wuhan is one of the most important Chinese contemporary artists. He studied at Hubei Academy of Fine Arts, where he graduated in 1991.

How many Chinese artists of his generation is strongly influenced his work from his youth during the Cultural Revolution. Together with - about the same age - artists like Yue Minjun, Wang Guangyi, Fang Lijun, Zeng belongs to a genre that is known as cynical realism or Political Pop.

He is best known for his masks series, which was created between 1994 and 2000. In these pictures, the faces of the sitters are concealed behind stylized masks, this is understood as a reference to the difference between the inner nature of man and the metaphorical mask, facing the world.

His works fetch high prices on collections, promotions regularly, so 2006 brought one of his works in Hong Kong 6.8 million euros, which was a record for a contemporary Chinese work of art at that time. 2013 scored the painting " The Last Supper " ( an inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper ) is also at an auction in Hong Kong HKD 180.4 million ( approximately 17 million euros ), which is the current record for a contemporary Asian work.

Important exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

• Singapore Art Museum ( 2007)
• Musée d' Art Moderne de Saint- Etienne de Metropole, Saint- Etienne, France ( 2007)
• Fundacion Godia, Barcelona, Spain ( 2009)
• Gallery for Foreign Art National, Sofia, Bulgaria ( 2010)
• Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China ( 2010)
• François Pinault Foundation, Palazzo Grassi, Venice ( 2011)
• Musée d' Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2013 )

Participations

• Guangzhou Triennial (2002)
• Biennale di Venezia ( 2009)