ZHANG HE

Front Cover: Familiar Crowd (detail), oil on canvas, 84 x 60 in. / 213 x 152 cm

ZHANG HE

Attraction oil on canvas, 48 x 48 in.

CHUN: THE TOPOGRAPHY OF SPRING Over the past decade, Zhang He has mesmerized us with his vigorous compositions of still lifes and figures captured in increasing abstraction. In this new exhibition titled Chun, the artist’s rich imagination leads him into a deeper exploration of the human psyche. For Zhang, Chun not only signifies the season Spring, but also includes all the variations of emotional topography associated with this time of year. This hopeful and inclusive cycle captures the artist’s response to the fluctuating phases of the season. Vitality, joy, desire, lust, and revival serve as the motives for these paintings. The canvas Farewell hints at the freshness of a new beginning, a reawakening of the senses. The hectic diagonal streaks of pink, white, and green herald this revival, while the odd slash of black appears as an exclamation. He further juxtaposes the richly applied impasto with spare washes of pigment revealing his acute sense of composition. This minimalism appears in several works, notably in the monumental diptych Composition 1, where slashes of paint mingle in a passionate affair, scarring the wash of pink paint beneath. Zhang continues with his complex interchange of colours in the paintings Liberty at Heart and Welcome.

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The jagged energy of the reds interacts with the blacks, blues, greens and whites, engulfing the paintings whole. A fiery Translation in Red rekindles an infernal surge of desire. The sculptural tongues of paint melt into a roiling sea. Our eyes navigate his painted world of eternal flux. Zhang He was born in Shenyang, China in 1963. He studied painting at the Lu Xun Art Institute in Shenyang after completing studies of photography at the Beijing Institute of Communication. Zhang moved to Montreal in 1998 and has recently built an expansive studio in the Laurentians, as well as frequently visiting his Beijing studio where he continues to paint. His works are in private and corporate collections throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Zhang’s artwork has been regularly exhibited internationally; recently he participated in the Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea in Florence and in the Union-National Touring Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Artists at Thailand’s National Gallery in Bangkok. Chun is Zhang He’s third showing with Odon Wagner Contemporary. Odon Wagner Contemporary

COMPOSITION 1, DIPTYCH oil on canvas 96 x 96 in. / 243 x 243 cm

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HOMETOWN MEMORIES 1 oil on canvas 60 x 60 in. / 152 x 152 cm

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FAREWELL oil on canvas 60 x 60 in. / 152 x 152 cm

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WELCOME oil on canvas 60 x 60 in. / 152 x 152 cm

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HOMETOWN MEMORIES II oil on canvas 60 x 60 in. / 152 x 152 cm

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JEWEL oil on canvas 60 x 60 in. / 152 x 152 cm

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LIBERTY AT HEART oil on canvas 60 x 60 in. / 152 x 152 cm

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COMPOSITION 2 oil on canvas 48 x 96 in. / 121 x 243 cm

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BLUE TRANSITION II oil on canvas 28 x 22 in. / 71 x 56 cm

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COMPOSITION 4 oil on canvas 60 x 60 in. / 152 x 152 cm

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TRANSLATION IN RED oil on canvas 59 x 79 in. / 150 x 201 cm

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ORCHID oil on canvas 40 x 36 in. / 102 x 92 cm

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COMPOSITION 11 oil on canvas 30 x 36 in. / 76 x 91 cm

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FAMILIAR CROWD oil on canvas 84 x 60 in. / 213 x 152 cm

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COMPOSITION 6 oil on canvas 60 x 48 in. / 152 x 122 cm

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REVEALED oil on canvas 59 x 79 in. / 150 x 201 cm

SANDY oil on canvas 59 x 79 in. / 150 x 201 cm

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ZHANG HE Canadian, b.1963 SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2013 2011 2010 2010 2009 2008 2007 2007

Chun, Odon Wagner Contemporary, Toronto, ON Gallery DeNovo, Ketchum, ID, USA John Scotti Jaguar, Montreal, QC New Paintings, Odon Wagner Contemporary, Toronto, ON Artbank Gallery, Beijing, China LuXun Art Institute, Shenyang, China Zhang He, Galerie d’Este, Montreal, QC Qi, Odon Wagner Contemporary, Toronto, ON Galerie Pangée, Montréal, QC

2003 2002 2001 1999 1991 1990

Fiore Agitati II (Frantic Flowers II), Han Art, Montreal, QC Frantic Flowers, Gallery DeNovo, Ketchum, ID, USA Galerie au Fond de la Cour, Paris, FR Fiore Agitati I (Frantic Flowers I), Han Art, Montreal, QC Musée du Québec, Quebec City, QC Galerie Jordan, Montreal, QC Loranger Gallery, Toronto, ON Chinese Canadian Art Gallery, Toronto, ON

GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2011 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2008 2007 2006 2004-12 2004 2002 1995-97 1992 1989 1987 1987-95

Union-National touring exhibition of contemporary Chinese artists, National Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand International Biennale Artist MIAMI, Nina Torres Fine Art Gallery, Miami, USA Art & Integration, Gipsoteca Libero Andreotti, Pescia, Italy Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea, Florence, Italy Continuum: Abstraction from Canada, Sunshine Art Museum, Songzhuang Beijing, China Art Westmount, Montreal, QC Shanghai High Noon Art & Culture Centre, Shanghai, China Group Show, Galerie d’Este, Montreal, QC Textures, Elliott Louis Gallery, Vancouver, BC Art Toronto (formerly TIAF), with Odon Wagner Contemporary, Toronto, ON Abstractions of Spring, Gallery DeNovo, Ketchum, ID, USA Entitlement, Association of Contemporary Chinese Canadian Artists, Toronto, ON China Culture and Art Now Embassies, Cultural Houses China Culture and Art “National Art Exhibition” Shanghai, China China Culture and Art “National Oil Painting Exhibition” Beijing, China China Culture and Art “National Youth Art Exhibition” Donbei, China China Culture and Art various expos in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China

PUBLIC & CORPORATE COLLECTIONS Association du Nouveau Monde, Hong Kong Bertrand Deslauriers, Montreal, QC Cormark Securities, Toronto, ON Elements, Toronto, ON Hot & Spicy International, Montreal, QC, Toronto, ON & Singapore, China HUI Architecte, Montreal, QC IACO International Aviation Corp., Montreal, QC

L’Équipe Uomo, Montreal, QC Lise Watier International, Montreal, QC & Paris, France Monit International, Montréal, QC & Miami, USA Pfiffner Management, Montreal, QC & Zurich, Switzerland Studio Versatile Ltée, Montreal, QC Ta Yu Association Seoul, South Korea

CREDITS CURATORIAL LAYOUT DESIGN PRINTING

Odon and Rafael Wagner, Anja Karisik Anja Karisik Angela Wagner Solisco Québec

Back Cover: Composition 21, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 in. / 122 x 122 cm

198 Davenport Road, Toronto, Ontario M5R 1J2 Canada 416-962-0438 or 800-551-2465 [email protected] odonwagnergallery.com ISBN: 978-1-927447-05-5 National Library of Canada “Zhang He: Chun” Copyright: Odon Wagner Gallery, 2013