Zhang Jian Zhong - A Life in Art 張建中 - 藝術人生

The Paintings of Zhang Jian Zhong

by David Carlson
Artist, educator, and exhibition committee chairman of the Arlington art center, Virginia

I have chosen to write about Mr. Zhang's work from the objective view of someone outside the Chinese culture not tainted by academic interpretations of Chinese art history. Granted I have been trained as an artist and teacher in the United States, I have had the opportunity to read some of Zhang Jianzhong's philosophy about his work and also the writing of Yang Yida about Mr. Zhang. These sources have given me insight into the different interpretations of his work which I find challenging and open for discussion.

I approach looking at artwork both visually and conceptually. Mr. Zhang’s work focuses on the connection between people, mythology, and the natural world. He has a strong technical facility that uses drawing as a basis for exploring space and subject matter. The paintings use tonality to define space and in most cases use color as a secondary role to balance the composition.

The subject of Mr. Zhang’s work is both abstract and figurative. This is not a new idea. In the past Paul Klee’s internal compositions combined allegory with abstraction. Similarly, Mr. Zhang combines folk tales and traditional themes with modern compositional ideas to bridge the complexities of time. According to Yang Yida in the article, "Philosophy of the Tree", Mr. Zhang is searching for a new art language that is both Chinese and international. An admirable task in any culture.

The title of the series of paintings Apothegm of History is key for understanding the conceptual side of Mr. Zhang’s art. The works are given meaning by the organic approach to the process of painting. By not defining or giving reason, Zhang Jianzhong connects culture with the natural world, the individual with the populous, and the abstract with the concrete. There are figures, buildings, and landscape elements with serve as moments of solidity and familiarity, giving way to a feeling of ambiguous space in the overall composition. The main image is either surrounded or composed of supporting characters all of which are equal in their position to the central theme. The density of the surface has a feeling that relates to the richly packed ornamental walls of temples and the space of early Buddhist mandalas.

The narrative quality of Mr. Zhang’s work can be read on many different levels. Even though the exact meaning of the stories are elusive, to a westerner, I can participate and derive my own interpretation. This is a trademark of substantial art. It does not matter that the men in the series spirit of soldiers are Chinese; in fact they could be any race. Zhang Jianzhong has successfully captured the collective feeling that is shared by all human soldiers and that is a quality of understanding that goes to the source of creativity itself.