randian | 燃点

[press release]

Mai 36 Galerie is pleased to announce its collaboration with artist Zang Kunkun (b. 1986, works and lives in Beijing). Zang will open his first solo exhibition with the Zurich-based gallery in early 2018, following a well received group exhibition at the gallery’s showrooms in spring 2017 and the introduction of his works at Art Basel Hong Kong 2017 and Art Basel 2017.

In recent years, he has increasingly rendered his paintings as objects, rather than just depictions of objects on the painted plane. He is attempting to build mutual connections between painting, objects and the things in the paintings, but on an even, rather than hierarchical footing. This implies that his works are gradually shifting towards a style with no boundaries, as opposed to a style that follows rigid definitions. And indeed, his concerns have moved beyond colors, brushstrokes and shapes in order to focus on the subtle relationships and structural syntax of objects, forms, concepts and different means of sensory perception.

Zang Kunkun (photo by Vision青年视觉 )

Zang’s approach of dealing with experiences of his local surrounding is expressed through a very universal language, transcending cultural standards, collective acceptance and subconscious agreements. By using industrial materials and including items of daily life, he incorporates themes, such as urbanization and its societal effects, the passage of time, and dimensions that are subject to time and space into his installations and paintings. Despite his young age, he has been artistically active for almost a decade now, which shows in his mature approach of redefining, refining, altering and taking further the motifs that keep reoccurring in his works, transcending different series and media.

ZANG KUNKUN
View II, 2016
Acrylic on canvas
2 parts, 150 x 315 x 5 cm (59 x 124 x 2 in.) Signed and dated verso (image courtesy the artist and Mai 36 Galerie)

ZANG KUNKUN
Container XIII, 2015
Wooden frame, styrofoam, cork, aluminium, acrylic on canvas framed 30.3 x 38 x 9 cm (11 7/8 x 15 x 3 1/2 in.)
signed and dated (image courtesy the artist and Mai 36 Galerie)

ZANG KUNKUN
Container XI, 2015
Board composition, frame, acrylic on canvas, tape, leather Total 153 x 40 cm (60 1/4 x 15 3/4 in.)
signed and dated (image courtesy the artist and Mai 36 Galerie)

ZANG KUNKUN
Container, Dark Side, 2016
Acrylic on canvas, stainless steel ball
Total 200 x 162 x 5 cm (78 3/4 x 63 3/4 x 2 in.) signed and dated (image courtesy the artist and Mai 36 Galerie)

ZANG KUNKUN
Passageway II, 2017
Acrylic on canvas, aluminium pipe
Painting 50 x 60 x 4.5 cm (19 5/8 x 23 5/8 x 1 3/4 in.) Pipe drawn out 520 cm, height adjustable
signed and dated (image courtesy the artist and Mai 36 Galerie)