金杜艺术中心荣幸地宣布于2020年8月13日至2020年9月26日举办艺术家张弓的个展《启示录》。
 
张弓这次个展包括了23幅架上作品和12幅素描。大多是他在2018到2020年的创作，以2020年的为主。在这个世界发生结构性变动的时代，艺术家描绘了他接受到的各种启示，分别来自内心的幻象和信仰，或是来自大自然的微妙细节。   
 
与展览同名的《启示录》系列最为典型地代表了艺术家这个时期的风格。骑士们时而凶猛地拿着中世纪长枪，时而文静地抱着坐骑的脖颈，时而赤身裸体，时而穿着如维多利亚淑女，他们的坐骑时而是马，时而是龙，有的脚像螳螂一样的细长，有的脚像蟾蜍一样吸附，还有的突然从奔跑的足尖上开出了蔷薇。背景中有布满绿色鳞片的帷幕，睁开红色眼睛的云朵，文艺复兴式的海边山城，骷髅和春花，婴儿和塞壬，在乡野上如同庄稼般盛放……题材是超现实的，如同一个梦境。远看有童话一般的形象和唐卡一般的色彩，但近观则可以发现有关死亡、复活、毁灭和重生的信息。而所有的骑士都是女人，女性成为宣告启示的使者，女性成为不同世界的通道。

张弓，启示录 No.7，2020，布面油画，45 x 65 cm，图片由艺术家提供
Zhang Gong, Apocalypse No.7, 2020, Oil on canvas, 45 x 65 cm, Courtesy of the Artist
 

另一个张弓最青睐的题材是自然。这里的自然不是任何罕见的景观，只是每天艺术家遛狗路上的小区绿植、草丛里的昆虫，树上的小鸟和被遗弃的玩具。张弓曾经非常仔细地观察地面上纤细的苔藓类植物，发现它们是进入另一个巨大的自在世界的入口。像《日光之下》和《有晚上，有早晨》这样的作品，就体现了这种创世纪一般的清新视角。再加上《捕风》、《增添知识》、《天起凉风》、《日影飞去》这些作品一起，都通过动植物角色和背景的互动，带来固有命运之中的细小而生动的图景，迷一般的被动性中体现的力量，压倒性的无限重复里反透出的新意。

从绘画技术来看，张弓的技术如同他的名字，是紧张、用力和异常细腻精确的。他的创作也是一个缓慢而艰辛的过程。但最后的作品效果却一派天真，既干净，也安静，每一只小爪子，每一片小鳞片，每张小叶子和每粒天上的灰尘都被艺术和信仰的大手轻轻放置安稳。美好纯真的画面跟颇具分量的大主题，形成了有当代性的张力。

张弓，日光之下，2018，布面丙烯，120 x 220 cm，图片由艺术家提供
Zhang Gong, Under the Sun, 2018, Acrylic on canvas, 120 x 220 cm, Courtesy of the Artist
 

KWM artcenter is pleased to present Zhang Gong’s solo exhibition “Revelations” from 8.13.2020 to 9.26.2020.

The show displays 23 paintings on canvas and 12 drawings from 2018 to 2020. In this era of structural changes in the world, the artist describes various revelations he has received in the form of fantasies and beliefs through to subtle details from nature. The Revelations series most typically represents the style of the artist during this period. The depicted knights sometimes hold medieval spears aggressively, sometimes quietly hold the necks of their animals, are sometimes naked and sometimes dress like Victorian ladies. Their animals are sometimes horses, sometimes dragons, and some have slender feet like praying mantis. Some have the feet of toads, and some have roses growing from between their toes. In the background, there are curtains full of green scales, clouds with open red eyes, Renaissance-style seaside towns, skulls and spring flowers, and landscapes where babies and sirens grow like crops. The theme is surreal. It's like a dream. From a distance, there are fairy tale-like images and thangka-like colours, but on closer look, you find information about death, resurrection, destruction, and rebirth. All the knights are women. Women become messengers of revelations and pathways to different worlds.

张弓，启示录 No.6，2020，布面油画，40 x 32 cm，图片由艺术家提供
Zhang Gong, Apocalypse No.6, 2020, Oil on canvas, 40 x 32 cm, Courtesy of the Artist
 

Nature is important to Zhang Gong. Nature in the paintings is not represented by generic landscapes, but by the green plants in the community where the artist walks his dog every day: the insects in the grass, the birds in the trees and the abandoned kid’s toys. Zhang Gong once observed the delicate moss on the ground very carefully, and found that it was the entrance to another huge world of freedom. Works such as "Under the Sun" and "There was evening and there was morning", embody this kind of fresh perspective on creation. Together with works such as "A Chasing after the Wind", "The More Knowledge", "The Day Breaks" and "The Shadows Flee", the interaction between the animals, plants and the background brings us tiny and vivid depictions of our inherent fate, reflecting the power embodied in passivity, and the new ideas stemming from the overwhelming infinite repetition of motifs.

张弓，增添知识，2019，布面丙烯，75 x 60 cm，图片由艺术家提供
Zhang Gong, The More Knowledge, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 60 cm, Courtesy of the Artist
 

Zhang Gong's technique is like his name in Chinese which means nervous, tenacious, and extremely accurate and precise. His creation is a slow and arduous process. But the effect of the final work is naive, clean and coherent. Every small paw, every small scale, every small leaf and every grain of dust in the sky is gently placed and stabilised by the big hands of art and his faith. A contemporary tension is formed from the juxtaposition between beautiful and childlike imagery and weighty themes.



关于艺术家
ABOUT THE ARTIST

张弓，1959年生于北京，1993年毕业于中央工艺美术学院图形想象专业硕士，现工作居住于北京。曾参加 "巴塞尔艺术博览会"（瑞士巴塞尔，1996）、“马拉什画廊” 中国艺术家展（荷兰，1998）、“张弓东京展”(日本东京，2000)、 岳敏君、张弓新作展（中国北京四合苑画廊，2001）、“虚拟的爱-当代新异术“（新加坡美术馆，2006）、 “潘大姐在纽约”（美国纽约艺莱纽约画廊，2010）、“坐看繁城“ （中国香港季丰轩，2014）、 “守望者”（美国纽约凯尚画廊，2016）、 “物种菌”，（北京蜂巢当代艺术中心，2018）等重要展览。

张弓亦是在中国制作手绘动画艺术短片的先驱之一。1999至2009年间创作了5部动画，如《红姐》（2009年）、《黑猪白猪》（2005年）、《树》（2003年）。作品多次入选世界各地国际动画节，包括法国安锡国际动画影展、比利时布鲁塞尔动画电影节、伦敦国际动画电影节、加拿大魁北克电影资料馆放映单元等。作品获多项动画大奖肯定，其中首部动画《树》获三项奖项，包括法国里昂第十届亚洲电影及文化电影节「优秀电影短片奖」（2004年）。

Zhang Gong was born in Beijing in1959. In 1993, he graduated from the Central Academy of Arts and Design with an MFA. Now he is the professor in the Information Department at Tsinghua University. Zhang now lives and works in Beijing. His selected recent group exhibitions include Basel Art Exposition, Basel, Switzerland (1996); Exhibition of Chinese Artists, Gallery Marash, The Netherlands (1998); Zhang Gong, Tokyo, Japan (2000); New Works Exhibition of Yue Minjun and Zhang Gong, The CourtYard Gallery, Beijing, China (2001); FICTION LOVE-Ultra New Vision in Contemporary Art,” Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2006); Miss Panda, Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, NY (2010); A Tale of Metropolis, Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery, Hong Kong (2014); The Watcher, Klein Sun Gallery, NY (2016); Mushroom Mushroom, Hive Center, Beijing (2018).

Zhang Gong is also one of the pioneers in making hand-painted animated films in China. From 1999 to 2009, he produced five independent animated films, such as "Ms Red" (2009), "Black Pig, White Pig" (2005), "Trees" (2003), which were highly praised in many international animation festivals in Europe and Asia, such as Annecy International Animated Film Festival, France, Brussels Animation Films Festival, Belgium, London International Animation Festival, and Cinémathèque Québécoise, Montreal.