Xinyan Zhang: Out of the Time

EVENT DESCRIPTION

DE SARTHE is pleased to present Out of the Time, Berlin-based artist Xinyan Zhang’s first solo exhibition in Hong Kong. Exploring the weaknesses of human nature and existence, Xinyan Zhang’s works often feature chaotic imagery of survivors in ruins, with their eyes, hearts, or other body parts hollowed out or mutilated. Within the abstract space of her paintings, the wounded victims allude to the decay and withering of the modern spiritual world. Desire, betrayal, indifference, among other human weaknesses distort the spirituality of human existence – Xinyan Zhang’s work visualizes this with a particular focus on the social disadvantage of women and children.

Xinyan Zhang’s practice is influenced by her childhood experience of growing up in Shenzhen, China in the early 90s, a time of rapid economic development and social change. As a child, Xinyan Zhang was regularly kept at home for protection due to a fear of child abduction, having to experience hunger and loneliness everyday while her parents were away. This occupied most of her upbringing, causing insecurity to take root in her young heart. Under these circumstances, painting became her warmest companion. Though informed by traumatic memories, Xinyan Zhang’s spontaneous and relaxed compositions on canvas may be regarded to be playful, straightforward and full of narrative. She has been particularly sensitive to colour since she was a child, and it has become a distinctive focus in her work. Her creative approach is characterized by automatism and intuition.

From creative subject matter to expression techniques, her practice is holistically influenced by the philosophy of German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. Exploring the essence of human nature, her works attempt to expose the dark side of humanity, visualizing its weaknesses through the illustrated protagonists. Xinyan Zhang often employs satirical visual language to examine themes such as marriage and distrust through the lens of Nietzsche’s philosophies.

Xinyan Zhang’s exhibited works in Out of the Time is emblematic of her creative practice. Born as a result of the past and present, her works strive to keep deliberate distance from fleeting trends. The exhibition title Out of the Time expresses the untimely oddness of her creations that still comment on prevalent social phenomena today.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Xinyan Zhang puts post-expressionism of Western art history in dialogue with materials and themes such as Chinese painting and real news events. Through fragmentation and hybrid techniques, her artistic practice explores the vulnerability of human nature and the shared state of human existence under the influence of popular culture.

Xinyan Zhang offers up imagery of humanity in different states; she often uses images of the wounded as a visual metaphor for the deterioration and paling of modern people’s spiritual world, focusing especially on the inferior status of women and children in society. Henri Matisse’s lines, Pablo Picasso’s deconstruction and Francis Bacon’s colours all resonate in her most recent work. Xinyan Zhang was born in 1991 in Shenzhen, China, and moved to Germany in 2018. She received her BFA from Shenzhen University (2014) and her MFA from Guangzhou University (2018), She also studied at Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe in Germany (2019- 2021) and Florence Academy of Fine Arts in Italy (2017).

Solo exhibitions of Xinyan Zhang’s work have been presented at venues such as the Women Museum Bonn, Germany (2022); Bauschaustelle Düsseldorf e.V, Düsseldorf (2022); the Radius Gallery, Xi’an (2021). Group exhibitions include the Artual Gallery, Lebanon (2022); the Beijing Weekend Gallery, Beijing (2022); Fangyuan Art Gallery, Beijing (2022); Galerie Bodenseekreis, Germany (2022); Art Factory HB 55, Berlin (2022); Galerie Schindler, Postdam,Germany (2022); the Ultramontane Gallery, Hangzhou (2022), and BBK Karlsruhe, Germany (2022). In 2022, her work was nominated for the 7th EbDietzsch Art Prize, Germany; Art Prize “Förderpreis Jung + Gegenständlich 2022” in Bodenseekreis, Germany; Bottrop Art Award, Bottrop,Germany; the V.Rothe and R.Hendricks Art award, Bonn, Germany; Baustelle Schaustelle Art Prize, Düsseldorf . Xinyan Zhang currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany.