Zhao Gang is now represented by Lisson Gallery.
Zhao Gang, Untitled, 2023. © Lisson Gallery. Courtesy of Lisson Gallery.
Lisson Gallery has announced the representation of the acclaimed Chinese artist Zhao Gang. The gallery will present Zhao’s work for the first time at this year’s West Bund Art & Design in Shanghai. Additionally, the artist will be presenting work in the gallery’s Beijing space in May 2024.
Born in 1961, Zhao’s paintings often reflect on the cultural and social transformations in China throughout his life. Zhao, who currently lives between Beijing and New York City, gained recognition in his teenage years, becoming the youngest artist to be associated with the Star Group—an avant-garde movement ushering in China’s contemporary art scene.
His art practice explores themes of identity, cultural dichotomy, and fragmented histories, balancing influences from Western and Chinese histories. His bold, exaggerated painterly technique expresses a rebellion against refinement, with simplified forms and gestural brushwork. His work is heavily inspired by his experience living and studying abroad since 1983. Zhao’s work has been showcased in solo exhibitions at several prestigious venues:at the Long Museum’s Chongqing Branch in 2022, and at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts in Taipei in 2020.