Chinese artist Zhang Xiaogang determined to put Bloodline series to bed
Painter still receives commissions to produce his famous family-portrait style pictures, but hopes exhibition of new works alongside those of conceptual art of Sol LeWitt will show that he’s moved on
As crossovers go, the pairing of Zhang Xiaogang and Sol LeWitt at the Pace Gallery in Beijing isn’t one that immediately springs to mind. One is a 58-year-old Chinese figurative painter and sculptor who plumbs the depths of his childhood memory for inspiration, the other an American who championed abstract, impersonal art and the importance of concept over form.
“He was against all art that was like my art. Art about emotions and personal things. In LeWitt’s world, the ultimate is in abstraction. I am terrified of exhibiting with a great master like him. I am a little insect compared to his locomotive. He could eat me alive,” says Zhang almost diffidently as he stands in his newly built home and studio in a Beijing suburb. “Thank goodness I have the home advantage.”
LeWitt, who died 10 years ago, was one of the founding fathers of conceptual art, and his work resembles minimalist architecture models – outlines of cubes exploring the concept of three-dimensional space with titles such as Cube Without a Cube and “wall drawings” created by assistants following a loose set of instructions that allow for variations in their interpretations.
As the creator of one of China’s best-known series of contemporary oil paintings – Bloodline – Zhang hopes that the gallery’s idea of showing his new works beside LeWitt’s will draw attention to the fact that he has been moving in a different direction in recent years, one which coincides with the American artist’s fascination with space.