"When your goal is to change society, you have to have a certain kind of imagination to make everyone understand what you are doing. But I don’t want to make my work too understandable. I don’t want to be known by too many people." — Zhao Zhao
Zhao Zhao’s beautiful, quasi-abstract Sky paintings refer to the heavily polluted grey-yellow skies of Beijing, where blue skies are exceedingly rare. Meditative cloud formations, stirring yet mournful, conjure up dreams of better times. Born in Xinjiang and a graduate of the Xinjiang Institute of the Arts and the Beijing Film Academy, Zhao Zhao is regarded as a major figure in Chinese contemporary art. A long-time assistant of Ai Weiwei, Zhao Zhao’s provocative works are known for confronting existing ideological structures and challenging notions of authority. His multidisciplinary, non-conformist practice spans works as diverse as sculpture, performance, video and painting.
In 2019 Zhao Zhao was honoured with his first museum solo exhibition at Song Art Museum in Beijing. That same year he was also named ‘Artist of the Year’ by the AAC (Award of Art China).
Provenance
Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles Acquired from the above by the present owner
Exhibited
Roberts & Tilton, Zhao Zhao: Omnipresent, 10 January – 21 February 2015
Literature
Zhao Zhao, Guo Juan and Cui Cancan, eds., Zhao Zhao 2016-2006, Beijing, 2016, p. 115 (illustrated)