About
Zeng Fanzhi’s visually and historically complex paintings reflect his bold experimentation with, and fusion of, Eastern and Western artistic traditions.
Born and raised in Wuhan, China, Zeng graduated from the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, Wuhan, in 1991. From the nineteenth century until the 1990s, Wuhan was one of China’s most prosperous cities and witness to a collision of Western and Eastern cultures. During his youth Zeng was inspired by China’s ’85 New Wave movement, which saw artists search for a new, often more conceptual, language after the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Zeng closely followed and studied Western art and was particularly drawn to German Expressionism and French Romanticism, through which he observed the ways in which his predecessors processed and visualized their experiences during times of extreme societal flux. He was especially drawn to the bold expressive gestures of Max Beckmann, as well as artists such as Willem de Kooning and Edvard Munch. These influences led him to deviate from the Social Realism that he was taught in school. Instead, he keenly observed objects and images from daily life. His Hospital (1991–92) and Meat (1992–94) paintings are examples of this turn. In these visceral works, he painted the skin of his subjects a pinkish color resembling slaughtered meat, demonstrating his concern and compassion for human existence and fragility.
In 1993 Zeng relocated to Beijing, where the unfamiliar environment left him feeling isolated. During this time he became keenly aware of the people he encountered, from all walks of life, who were living through a period of rapid modernization. This awareness led to the creation of his Mask works (1994–2004), a series that preserved the large, vacant eyes and thick, clumsy hands of the subjects seen in prior paintings and introduced greater distance between the figures, creating a sense of alienation. The masks in these works obscure and divert from the subjects’ feelings and hint at Zeng’s apprehension toward and rejection of society’s accelerated, systematic development. These works not only provide a record of this period of profound social transformation, but also offer a glimpse of the collective memory of this era.
Exhibitions

Artist to Artist: Georg Baselitz and Zeng Fanzhi
On the occasion of Georg Baselitz: Years later at Gagosian, Hong Kong, Zeng Fanzhi composed a written foreword for the exhibition’s catalogue and a video message to the German painter. Baselitz wrote a letter of thanks to the Chinese artist for his insightful thoughts.

Zeng Fanzhi on Cézanne, Morandi, and Sanyu
Zeng Fanzhi speaks about curating the exhibition Cézanne, Morandi, and Sanyu at Gagosian, Hong Kong, and the connections between the three artists’ works. Interview by Jin Jing.

Zeng Fanzhi | Van Gogh
Zeng Fanzhi discusses his approach to the Zeng Fanzhi | Van Gogh exhibition in Amsterdam and the various ways the renowned Dutch painter continues to inspire artists today.

Zeng Fanzhi: The Early Years
Gladys Chung investigates the formative stages of this artist’s career.

Zeng Fanzhi’s Blue
A slideshow containing photographs of the creation of Blue (2015) by Zeng Fanzhi.
Fairs, Events & Announcements

Art Fair
West Bund Art & Design 2020
November 12–15, 2020, booth A102
West Bund Art Center, Shanghai
westbundshanghai.com
Gagosian is pleased to participate in West Bund Art & Design 2020 with an extensive group presentation. Along with the gallery’s booth at ART021 Shanghai, on view between November 14 and 15, this will be Gagosian’s first in-person art fair since the covid-19 lockdown in March. The gallery’s participation was made possible by extraordinary support from the artists involved.
John Currin, Pistachio, 2016 © John Currin

Book Launch
Zeng Fanzhi
Catalogue Raisonné 1984–2004
October 22–November 22, 2020
Zall Bookstore, Wuhan, China
To celebrate the release of Zeng Fanzhi: Catalogue Raisonné 1984–2004, the Fanzhi Foundation for Art and Education is hosting an online conversation and exhibition of early works made by the artist, in his hometown of Wuhan, China. Three of Zeng’s former professors from Hubei Institute of Fine Art—Pi Daojian, Wei Guangqing, and Fang Shaoh—and Shanghart founder Lorenz Helbling will speak about the artist’s practice on October 22, at 2am EDT (2pm HKT). The online conversation will be conducted in Chinese. The event is free and open to the public on WeChat and Zaiyi.
Zeng Fanzhi. Photo: Guo Shaoming

Art Fair
Art Basel Hong Kong Online
March 20–25, 2020
Works by Georg Baselitz, Jennifer Guidi, Tetsuya Ishida, Jia Aili, Takashi Murakami, Mary Weatherford, Tom Wesselmann, and Zeng Fanzhi were available exclusively online. The selection was also on view in the Art Basel Hong Kong Online Viewing Rooms, accessible through artbasel.com and the Art Basel app.
Takashi Murakami, Kiki, 2018–20 © 2020 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All rights reserved
Museum Exhibitions

On View
Duration
Chinese Art in Transformation
Opened September 25, 2020
Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing
www.msam.cn
Duration: Chinese Art in Transformation attempts to show how every moment that stretches is an absorption of the past, and the endless possibilities of the future are based on the past and the present. The exhibition presents painting, sculpture, installation, video, animation, and more from the 1970s to the present. Work by Hao Liang, Jia Aili, and Zeng Fanzhi is included.
Jia Aili, Untitled, 2011 © Jia Aili Studio. Photo: Yang Chao Studio

Closed
Zeng Fanzhi | Van Gogh
October 20, 2017–March 5, 2018
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
www.vangoghmuseum.nl
This show marks the first time the Van Gogh Museum has invited a contemporary Asian artist to exhibit at the institution. Zeng Fanzhi, who has been inspired by the artist, presents new never-before-exhibited paintings that refer to works by Van Gogh in the museum’s collection, creating a dialogue between modern and contemporary art. The show was extended to accommodate the addition of a new painting.
Zeng Fanzhi, Van Gogh III, 2017 © Zeng Fanzhi