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AC10

Cream background with a sky blue shape.
© Zhang Wei / Boers-Li Gallery

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  • Cream background with a sky blue shape.

Date:

1984

Artist:

Zhang Wei
Chinese, born 1955

About this artwork

Zhang Wei was a critical figure in the development of avant-garde art in China. Self-trained, he began his career as a key member of the No Name Art Group, which was the most significant clandestine artists’ group formed in the early 1970s. After leaving its ranks in 1979, Zhang became one of the first artists in the country to make abstract paintings following the Cultural Revolution. His approach to abstraction is grounded in his knowledge of traditional Chinese ink painting, in which an emphasis is placed on expressing emotion through the gestural movement of the brush.

AC10 depicts two glowing amorphous turquoise forms on a raw linen plane. The color is at once translucent and delicately built up. Zhang was interested in producing an allover composition in which the viewer cannot identify where that artist had begun or ended his mark making. He has discussed this particular painting with reference to power and art, remarking, “The big blue painting that I painted in 1984—the one I love so much! … I borrowed that [concept of power] from the Chinese traditional mentality. There is this Chinese saying, ‘power is formless.’ That’s my language too.” Formless power is an apt description of the whole of Zhang’s practice; from his first painting, his art has always been subversive. He worked always outside of China’s official arts institutions, first as part of the No Name Art Group and later when he used his apartment as a makeshift salon and art gallery. In so doing, he became influential within the underground art movement of the early 1980s.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Wei Zhang

Title

AC10

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1984

Medium

Oil on linen; 2 panels

Dimensions

180 × 312 cm (70 7/8 × 122 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Through prior purchase from the Mary and Leigh Block Fund

Reference Number

2015.178a-b

Copyright

© Zhang Wei / Boers-Li Gallery

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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