ז’אנג הואן
ЧЖАН ХУАНЬ
張洹

Three Heads Six Arms

source: zhanghuan

San Francisco Arts Commission Announces the World Premiere of Zhang Huan’s Colossal Three Heads Six Arms

A dedication ceremony will be held on May 12, 2010 at 10 a.m. in Joseph L. Alioto Performing Arts Piazza, located across the street from San Francisco’s City Hall.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 21, 2010 ¨C San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Arts Commission President P.J. Johnston and Director of Cultural Affairs Luis R. Cancel will dedicate a new temporary sculpture by celebrated Chinese artist Zhang Huan at a public ceremony on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 10 a.m. Presented in conjunction with the Shanghai-San Francisco Sister City 30th Anniversary Celebration, Zhang’s colossal Three Heads Six Arms (2008) will make its world premiere in the heart of San Francisco’s Civic Center, the Joseph L. Alioto Performing Arts Piazza, which is located across the street from City Hall. Three Heads Six Arms, courtesy of the artist and The Pace Gallery, New York, will be on loan through 2011.

“The installation of Zhang Huan’s spectacular sculpture in the Civic Center marks a high point in the Shanghai-San Francisco Sister City 30th Anniversary Celebration and a milestone for the San Francisco Arts Commission,” said Mayor Gavin Newsom. “By bringing this incredible work of art to the City, we underscore Shanghai and San Francisco’s bond as two of the world’s most important centers for arts and culture.”

“We are deeply honored that Zhang Huan chose San Francisco as the site for the sculpture’s world premiere,” said P.J. Johnston. “Bringing such an impressive work by an artist of his caliber and renown to San Francisco is a tremendous accomplishment for the San Francisco Arts Commission, and we are delighted that we can provide city residents and tourists with the opportunity to experience this colossal masterpiece in person.”

According to Luis R. Cancel, “Zhang Huan is one of the world’s foremost contemporary artists whose haunting and poignant artworks are layered with existential questions and social commentary. While many people are familiar with his performance art through photographs, not many have had the occasion to experience works that are more representative of his traditional art practice. Three Heads Six Arms is Zhang’s largest sculpture to date, and we are absolutely thrilled to bring it stateside and show it for the first time.”

Three Heads Six Arms is part of a series of monumental works depicting the fragmented extremities of Buddhist statues. The series was inspired by Zhang’s discovery of religious sculptures that had been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution for sale in a Tibetan market. He began the series in 2006 shortly after moving from New York City to Shanghai where he retired his performance art practice and embraced a more traditional approach to artistic creation. His recent work is characterized by a more overt relationship with traditional Chinese culture and Buddhist iconography. However, he continues to use the body as a primary vehicle for exploring existential questions and expressing emotions, and it is a common thematic thread through his various artworks.

The first sculptures in the Buddha series included nine large-scale copper fingers, which were based on remains he collected during his visit to Tibet. According to Zhang, “When I saw these fragments in Lhasa, a mysterious power impressed me. They’re embedded with historical and religious traces, just like the limbs of a human being.” The fingers of Buddhist deities are considered highly symbolic because they convey different spiritual meanings through various hand gestures, or mudras. Zhang continued the series with several even larger sculptures combining the legs, feet, hands and heads of Buddhist deities. The artist, having been deeply moved by the sight of the desecrated statues, believes that by recreating these fragments on a grand scale, he is able to alleviate the pain caused by their destruction.

Standing over 26 feet tall and weighing almost fifteen tons, Three Heads Six Arms is Zhang’s largest sculpture to date. He began the sculpture by sketching a few ink drafts of Three Heads Six Arms. His assistants then created a miniature, approximately 5′ x 5′ x 3′ clay sculpture that was based on the ink sketches. Once Zhang approved the clay maquette, his assistants constructed a glass-steel model. He then turned the design over to his copper workshop, which is one of nine specialized workshops that comprise his Shanghai studio complex, to build an enlarged copper construct. The hands and body were enlarged directly in accordance to the glass-steel model. However, the head section presented Zhang with several challenges.

Since the expressions on the faces were so elaborate, subtle changes in detail were especially difficult to realize. In order to overcome these issues, Zhang and his assistants created one large-scale isometric clay sculpture by welding together a steel structure and overlaying it with clay. The forging specialist hammered out the copper skin over the clay head model, and the final head was pieced together after all the individual faces were finished. According to Zhang, “When using pieces of copper to make Buddhist images, I like to keep the original character of the copper and the traces of the welding. For me, pieces of copper are like stitched skin after an operation.”

“The shape of Three Heads Six Arms came from my correlation of it with the Chinese mythological character Nezha, inspiration came from Tibetan Buddhist sculptures. I replaced two of the three Buddha heads with human heads,” said Zhang. Among the sculpture’s three heads is a self-portrait of the artist. In his earlier performances and photographs, Zhang always placed himself at the center of the action. Using his own body as his primary medium, he would subject himself to extreme physical trials and exploits often in front of large audiences. By introducing himself into the Buddha series, he reinstates this practice and draws a parallel between the body of Buddhist deities and his own. Zhang has been quoted in a past interview with curator and art historian RoseLee Goldberg as saying, “To me, the objects that I am making now are still very theatrical. I see them as motionless performance art.” Three Heads Six Arms exemplifies how the layers of ideas explored in his performance pieces have carried through to his more traditional studio practice. “Three Heads Six Arms reflects the changing realities of Chinese people today and also reflects the attitude that humankind has conquered nature and even reflects deeds of volition and hope,” said Zhang.

Zhang chose San Francisco as the ideal setting to debut his sculpture, in part because of the long-standing history being honored between Shanghai and San Francisco during this year’s Sister City Celebration.

“The Shanghai San Francisco Sister City celebration commemorates this important time in the history of our two countries when the exchange of art, culture and ideas between the East and West is marked by openness and mutual appreciation. While Three Heads Six Arms clearly embodies ideas that are rooted in Chinese culture and tradition, it is also about our common humanity. I hope that, while the sculpture is in San Francisco, it will serve as a bridge between these two great cities and that it will continue to foster this sprit of tolerance and appreciation,” said Zhang.

“The Pace Gallery is honored to have been able to facilitate the loan of this monumental sculpture by one of the world’s most important contemporary artists to the city of San Francisco. With his continuing interest in the continuity of Buddhist philosophy Zhang Huan deals with the fragmentation of Chinese society by enlarging a small ruined Buddha to heroic scale. By doing this he illustrates the promise of a new society in which the past as well as the present will co-exist with equal value,” says Arne Glimcher, Founder and Chairman of The Pace Gallery.

Zhang Huan was born in 1965 in a small town called Anyang in Henan Province just prior to the Cultural Revolution. At one year of age, Zhang went to live with his grandparents in a tiny village in the countryside known as Tangyin County. At fourteen, he started his artistic training in the so-called Su-style or Soviet style and traveled by bus each day for his lessons. Zhang enrolled in undergraduate studies at the Art Department, Henan University, Kaifeng to concentrate on Chinese ink painting, drawing, oil painting and art history in 1984. Upon completion in 1988, Zhang was an instructor of art and Western art history at Zhengzhou College of Education for three years. He studied oil painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing from 1991 to 1993, and it was during this period that he first started experimenting with performance art.

At the same time, a group of young Chinese artists, including Zhang Huan, established the “Beijing East Village.” It was in this community that Zhang developed his early performance practices and many of the works that would soon bring him international attention, such as 12 Square Meters, in which the artist sat for an hour, covered in honey and fish oil, in a fly infested public latrine and To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain, where nine people lay on top of one another to raise the summit by a meter. These performances and many others came to be known by their photographic documentation, which are now considered the artist’s first iconic works.

In 1998, Zhang was included in Inside Out: New Chinese Art organized by the Asia Society and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center. It was during this exhibition that he relocated to New York City. Over the course of the next eight years, Zhang created 13 performances and exhibited in five solo exhibitions and more than 60 group shows throughout the United States. The artist moved back to China in 2005, settling in the southern Min Hang district of Shanghai, where he opened the Zhang Huan Studio and established the Gao An Foundation, which supports the construction of school buildings in underdeveloped regions of Western China and has established scholarships for students at the university level.

Among his many notable exhibitions the Asia Society, New York, presented Zhang Huan: Altered States (2007-08), the largest museum exhibition of the artist’s work to date. Organized by Melissa Chiu, Director of the Asia Society Museum and Vice President of the Society’s Global Arts Programming, the exhibition featured 55 of Zhang Huan’s major works produced over the past 15 years in Beijing, New York, and Shanghai. Zhang Huan: Altered States later traveled to the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The presentation of Three Heads Six Arms in Joseph L. Alioto Performing Arts Piazza was made possible by the Public Art Program of the San Francisco Arts Commission. Shipping was provided by Matson Navigation Company in conjunction with Waterfront Container Leasing Company, Inc.. The following donors helped make this project possible: The Pace Gallery, Atthowe Fine Arts, Huntington Hotel and Degenkolb Engineers. Other significant contributors include: Senator Dianne Feinstein, Mayor Gavin Newsom, Roselyne C. Swig, the Recreation and Parks Department, the Asian Art Museum and the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China.
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source: iasiacoil

ג’אנג חואן (Zhang Huan), שעזב בשנת 1998, חזר ב־2006 ופתח סטודיו ענק בשנגחאי, ובו הוא וכ־100 עובדיו יוצרים פסלי ענק המתייחסים למסורות בודהיסטיות. אמנים בעלי שם כאיי וייוויי (Ai Weiwei) וצאי גואו־צ’יאנג (Cai Guo-Qiang), שיוצרים אמנות המתקשרת עם המסורת התרבותית הסינית, מוזמנים מצד השלטונות והחברות הפרטיות לבצע פרויקטים מתוקשרים בסין, כאמנים המשדרים “סיניות” והצלחה. איי וייוויי השתתף בעיצוב אצטדיון קן הציפור באולימפיאדה, ובו שילב מסורת סינית של בנייה עם לבנים אדומות ואפורות בתוך סבך בטון מודרני. עם זאת, איי, הפועל למען זכויות האדם והדמוקרטיה, הביע חרטה על שיתוף פעולה זה עם השלטון, אשר לטענתו מתעצם ומתחזק, בעודו פוגע בזכויות האזרחים.
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source: lemondefr

Tout habillé en bleu-gris des vieilles usines, des chaussures de sport à la casquette sur laquelle sont posées des lunettes de soleil dernier cri, Zhang Huan se prête sans rechigner aux devoirs de star que sa réputation lui impose. Pendant le vernissage de sa nouvelle exposition, intitulée “Vent d’Est, Vent d’Ouest”, organisée du 8 avril au 19 juin dans l’espace Louis Vuitton, au second étage d’une immense boutique de la marque à Macao, il sourit, apparemment satisfait devant ses statues monumentales du Christ et de Bouddha en cendres agglomérées, et pose, bras dessus bras dessous avec des tas d’inconnus très chics face à un mur de photographes pressants. Il est serein, déterminé, énergique. On sent vite que l’on a affaire à… un géant.
“En Occident tout le monde regarde la Chine, mais en Chine on regarde beaucoup ce qui se passe à l’Ouest. Si j’ai mis Bouddha et le Christ face à face sous le même toit, c’est que je pense qu’ils ont des choses à se dire”, nous déclare Zhang Huan. Il est bouddhiste. Fervent. D’où son médium préféré depuis quelques années : les cendres de bâtons d’encens récupérés dans les temples. Il en fait des statues et des peintures. “Les cendres symbolisent l’avenir, l’espoir, puisque la mort pour un bouddhiste, c’est la renaissance. C’est tourner l’humanité vers son avenir en rendant hommage au passé. Reconstruire à partir de cendres est un travail de mémoire.” Un art conceptuel, qu’il n’est pas encore facile de proposer aux Chinois, lesquels sont pour le moment plus friands de la mode “Mao Pop”, pseudo-contestation finalement très douce.

Né en 1965 dans la province du Henan, Zhang Huan a d’abord enseigné l’histoire de l’art. Très vite, il utilise son corps, nu le plus souvent, comme toile, comme pinceau, comme langage vers le monde, comme oeuvre en somme. En 1994, il se couvre de miel et d’huile de poisson et s’offre en dégustation aux mouches des latrines publiques de son quartier de Pékin. Il disparaît ensuite peu à peu dans un étang jusqu’à ce que les mouches se détachent…

A l’âge de 33 ans (1998), il prend la “nouvelle route de la soie”, celle du Pacifique vers les Etats-Unis. De magnifiques photographies immortalisent ses performances. “Zhang Huan est certainement le plus grand artiste de performance qui soit. Il intègre sa performance à son travail classique et, inversement, il transforme sa performance en une oeuvre durable”, analyse le commissaire de l’exposition et critique d’art William Zhao.

Le 3 avril, quelques jours avant le vernissage de Macao, l’artiste et blogueur Ai Weiwei s’est fait arrêter. Quand on mentionne le fait, Zhang Huan soupire avant de répondre : “Si vous êtes le président d’un grand pays et que vous avez une énorme cicatrice sur le visage, une cicatrice que vous voyez tous les jours en vous levant et à laquelle tout le monde vous identifie, est-ce que vous avez vraiment besoin de quelqu’un qui vous mette sans arrêt le doigt dessus ?” Lui-même ne se sent pas du tout menacé. Il dit être “comme un poisson dans l’eau parce que la terre est ma terre”. Et d’ajouter, pesant ses mots : “Je ne connais pas de pays au monde où les gens soient plus libres qu’en Chine.” Il explique que tout ce qui est interdit existe “underground” et que le gouvernement est parfaitement au courant. “Nous n’avons sans doute jamais joui d’autant de libertés.”

Il connaît bien Ai Weiwei, son aîné de 8 ans. “Comme Ai Weiwei et comme tous les artistes chinois, nous adorons notre pays. Et malgré tout le mauvais du passé, nous espérons construire un monde meilleur. C’est à cela qu’il faut tendre, pas seulement une Chine meilleure…” Les deux artistes ont beaucoup en commun. Tous deux ont quitté leur terre natale pour les Etats-Unis. Tous deux manient le “concept artistique” avec brio. Tous deux travaillent sur la mémoire. Tous deux ont choisi de revenir en Chine où ils sont moins reconnus qu’à l’étranger. Tous deux sont riches.

Zhang Huan, lui, ne peut être que richissime. Il passe d’ailleurs pour l’un des artistes préférés de deux grands mécènes français, Bernard Arnault et François Pinault. Au point qu’à présent, il ne se complique plus la vie. S’il a une idée d’oeuvre qui, il le sait, plaira à l’un, Zhang Huan en fait tout de suite une semblable, pour l’autre. Ce n’est pas la main-d’oeuvre qui lui manque. Dans son immense atelier qui s’étend sur 3 hectares à deux heures de route de Shanghaï, il emploie environ deux cents personnes. “Les maîtres de la Renaissance qui répondaient à des commandes venues des quatre coins de l’Europe ne faisaient pas autre chose”, commente le galeriste Edouard Malingue qui exposera l’artiste, fin mai, à Hongkong.

Mais c’est l’avenir de l’humanité qui mine Zhang Huan : “L’homme fait face à un drôle de dilemme : il voudrait vivre plus longtemps et fait beaucoup en ce sens, mais en même temps et, avec beaucoup plus d’efficacité, il détruit ce qui pourrait lui garantir sa survie.” Et de lancer : “Comment l’homme n’aura-t-il pu durer que si peu de temps sur cette planète. Est-il trop bête ou trop intelligent ?”
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source: arteforadomuseu

Zhang Huan, artista chinês aclamado internacionalmente, nasceu em 1965 em Anyang, Província de Henan, e atualmente reside e trabalha em Xangai. Ativo em Pequim na década de 1990, ele foi considerado um dos maiores artistas de vanguarda do país. Morando em Nova York de 1998 a 2005, ganhou reconhecimento internacional.

Voltando para Xangai em 2005, ele fundou Zhang Huan Studio onde continuou a ampliar o escopo de seu trabalho artístico, criando novas formas e explorando novas áreas. Suas pinturas com cinzas acrescentaram uma nova técnica à história da arte. Ele abriu caminho com ainda outras técnicas como escultura em couro de boi e em portas, e xilogravuras com penas, para citar algumas.

Exposições individuais aconteceram no Norton Museum of Art na Florida, Shangai Art Museum, Gallery of Ontario em Toronto, Canadá, e Palazzo Vecchio e Forte de Belvedere em Florence, Italy. Suas obras podem ser encontradas nas coleções de museus de arte contemporânea e de fundações em grandes cidades ao redor do mundo.
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source: artnet
Zhang Huan (Chinese, b.1965) is a performance artist, painter, photographer, and sculptor best known for performances that test his own physical and mental endurance, create symbolic self-portraits, and question the role of family and culture in shaping our way of thinking. Born in An Yang City, He Nan Province, Huan studied traditional painting at Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Arts. Inspired by reading about performance art at the Central Academy library and seeing the photography of Tseng Kwong-Chi, Huan staged his first performance titled Angel (1993) at the National Art Museum of China. In this work, Huan laid down almost naked in the entrance hall and poured over his body red liquid and parts of a dismembered doll, referencing the Chinese government policy that requires women to have an abortion if they conceive more than one child. In these early years, Huan was part of the East Village group, avant-garde performance artists living on the outskirts of Beijing. Huan continued to make performance art in museums and at public events during a period living in the United States. After he moved to Shanghai in 2006, Huan has focused on sculpture, woodworking, and painting. In a recent series titled Memory Doors, begun in 2006, he created screen prints of photographs depicting Chinese historical events on doors that he found in Shanxi Province. All of Huan’s work has a spiritual foundation, but his interest in Tibetan Buddhism, which he cites as a key influence, is evident in a recent series of paintings and sculptures made from ash collected at Buddhist temples. Huan emphasizes family and cultural connections in the photographic series Foam (1998), ten pictures that feature the artist’s face covered in foam with members of his family bursting out of his mouth. Similarly, his series of nine photographs titled Family Tree (2000) documents the artist’s face as calligraphers painted personal and cultural stories on his skin until it was covered in ink. Huan has held solo exhibitions at many galleries and museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Shanghai Art Museum, and the Haunch of Venison Gallery in London. He is represented by the Pace Gallery in New York. He lives and works Shanghai and New York.
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source: bhasiaart
Zhang Huan, artista chinês aclamado internacionalmente, nasceu em 1965 em Anyang, Província de Henan, e atualmente reside e trabalha em Xangai. Ativo em Pequim na década de 1990, ele foi considerado um dos maiores artistas de vanguarda do país. Morando em Nova York de 1998 a 2005, ganhou reconhecimento internacional.
Voltando para Xangai em 2005, ele fundou Zhang Huan Studio onde continuou a ampliar o escopo de seu trabalho artístico, criando novas formas e explorando novas áreas. Suas pinturas com cinzas acrescentaram uma nova técnica à história da arte. Ele abriu caminho com ainda outras técnicas como escultura em couro de boi e em portas, e xilogravuras com penas, para citar algumas.
Exposições individuais aconteceram no Norton Museum of Art na Florida, Shangai Art Museum, Gallery of Ontario em Toronto, Canadá, e Palazzo Vecchio e Forte de Belvedere em Florence, Italy. Suas obras podem ser encontradas nas coleções de museus de arte contemporânea e de fundações em grandes cidades ao redor do mundo.