A Solo Show by Zhang Shujian: Mad Genius
2023.09.02 - 2023.10.21
Artist: Zhang Shujian

Zhang Shujian's recent artworks, presented in this exhibition, extend from his approach applied in the “skin weaving” series, where the artist continues to unleash a subtle portrayal of the skin, and his appropriation of Chinese and Western masterpieces as the meta-picture intends to alienate further and bewilder, to resonate with the subject of “transfiguration.” In this game of brush and ink, the stereotypical understanding of realism and the superficial imitation of modernist masters' painterliness simultaneously became Zhang Shujian’s deride. He reveals the traces of "forced stitching" different types of brushstroke in the picture, reminding one of deliberately setting up bugs in facial filters. This effect aims to demonstrate that in the age of the online image, the way of looking is constantly reshaped when everything is superficial and collaged, and the modernist belief that art allows the perception of the "real" has long been shaken.