ZHANG HONG YI

June 4th- July 14th:Zhuang Hong Yi ( Solo Exhibition )

Zhuang Hong Yi was born in Sichuan province (China) in 1962. Zhuang's work can be viewed as a journey across the world; wherever Zhuang goes, he gains new experiences and images which are reflected in his paintings. His work is ever evolving, growing ever richer and, consequently, is ever surprising. China, the country where Zhuang was born and embarked on his education, Groningen where he pursued his studies and now Rotterdam where he has his studio.
However, Zhuang's work cannot be classified according to nationality, although many newspaper articles describe him as a young Chinese artist living and working in the Netherlands.

Zhuang Hong Yi is a prime example of an artist who draws his inspiration from the environment he originates from and the environment in which he finds himself. In Zhuang's work you can follow the story of his past in China; it testifies to great professional skill, in the way he addresses his materials. His experience in the Netherlands enables him to keep on adding new techniques to his mixed methods based on rice paper.

His subject matter, too, reflects an ever-richer artistry. His period in the Groningen countryside, with its sharply-defined, infinite horizons, is echoed in his work, and the dimensions of his sizeable panels could be described as characterizing Rotterdam. He seeks to fix the essence of his experiences in the work and, when seen in its totality, the result is a long and fascinating journey, which is never boring and which is constantly acquiring fresh elements on the way.

This makes Zhuang Hong Yi, with his unmistakable personal signature, an important artist. He cannot be labelled, he chooses his own route, knows exactly what he wants as is evident from his career history, from Guanghan and the Sichuan Institute of Fine Arts in Chongqing, China, via Groningen, Finsterwolde, to Rotterdam.

HOT NEWS

Because of Zhuang’s overwhelming success in Holland he decided to restrict his exhibitions to museums only. He is on the list of Elsevier’s TOP 100 national artists. In 2008 the Chinese department of Culture selected him as number 5 of the 150 most important Chinese artists. His latest work from his furniture series is exhibited in The Beijing Museum. The most spectacular item, a daybed containing 3600 nails, has been sold three times at New York’s auction for € 120.000 each (edition of 5).