Zhang Xiaotao
The terms "Chinese art" and "sexually explicit" don't often go together, but in the case of painter Zhang Xiao Tao, the two elements combine to form works that are at once subtle and explosive....Zhang, who was born in 1970, belongs to a generation of Chinese artists that has been able to exercise comparative freedom of expression but the freedom hasn't made him complacent. Though his work might at first seem dominated by an effusion of color and pattern, it rapidly becomes clear that its decorative elements are there to enhance the power of the work's bawdiness and its political subtext. It's rare to find work that combines conceptual and political features so successfully; the delicate irony of Zhang's work makes for an impressive debut.
by Sarah Coleman from SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN
August 9th, 2000
Zhang Xiaotao has said, “trans-medium and trans-discipline are working approaches and experimental attitude. Every worker, not only the artist, should have a basic appeal to go beyond the limitation of a single subject. It is a way to communication and blend.” Of course, as a form of man’s spirit, art, which is experimental in nature, is different from metaphysics and religion. Metaphysics focuses on the conceptual and systematical summary of experiences of human life, and religion focuses on the confident practices of human original faith. Both the establishing and advancing of an artist’s original images should be the results of experiments on his own initiative.
by Zhang Chanping from his "The Self-Deification of Artists"
June 12th, 2010
Zhang Xiaotao is an art professor and he slips easily into academic lingo, with learned references to semiotics, cultural self-colonisation, cognitive structures and ontological language. He consciously echoes illustrations from classic books and uses the colours of traditional Chinese porcelain and jade, as if to underscore how far Chinese civilization has fallen.
Zhang Xiaotao's at work.
Biography of Zhang Xiaotao
1970 Born in Hechuan, Chongqing, China
1996 Graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute
1996-2009 Teacher in the Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu
2010 Teacher in the New Media Department of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute
Now he lives and Works in Beijing and Chongqing
Solo Exhibitions
2011 Sakya , White box museum of art, Beijing，China
2010 Epidemiology，Guangdong Museum of Art，Guangzhou，China
2008 Microscopic Narration ，Iberia Center for Contemporary Art ，Beijing ，China
2007 Rebirth, Arthur M.Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology at Peking University, Beijing, China
Desires without Limits, Dolores de Sierra Galería de Arte, Madrid, Spain
2006 Beautiful Imbroglio, He Xiangning Art Museum Shenzhen, China
2005 Dreamscapes, Foundation 3.14 Bergen, Norway
Dream Factory•Rubbish Heap, Tokyo Gallery, Japan
Dreamscapes, M.K.Ciulionis Nat. Museum of Art, Kaunas, Lithuania
2004 Dream Factory﹒Rubbish Heap, Beijing Tokyo Art Projects, China
2003 Materialistic Decay, Akie Aricchi Art Contemporary Gallery, Paris, France
2002 Desire, Kunst Akademie Muenster, Germany
2001 Flowers in the Dream, Tokyo Gallery, Japan
2000 Fabricated Images, Pacific Bridge Gallery, Oakland, U.S.A.
Group Exhibitions
2011 Expression of Chinese Contemporary Art, Today Art Museum，Beijing，China
Unable Absence: You should not miss it, Wenxuan Art Museum, Chengdu, China
Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu Contemporary Art Museum, Chengdu, China
World Printed Art Exhibition, Haeinsa Temple, Seoul, Korean
Shanshui -Landscape Tradition and Landscape in Chinese Contemporary Art,
Berne Art Museum, Switzerland
Imagine Australia, New Age: Australia-China International New Media Arts Exhibition，
QUT Art Museum，Australia
Games，White Box Museum of Art, Beijing, China
Relationship: New Chinese Construction Art, Museum of Art for the XXI Century, Rome, Italy
2010 "The Material and the Code: Disciplinary Crossings of Cinema Studies and New Media,"
Chicago University, Chicago, USA
Beijing Time, Santiago de Compostela, Santiago, Spain
Reshaping History, China art from 20000 to 2009, China National Convention Center, Beijing, china
Vision2: The Future That Encompasses the past -- An Art Exchange Program Between
China and Taiwan, Tina Keng Gallery, Taibei, China
Heart -the forefront of contemporary architecture in China Exhibition,
Vitra Design Museum, Weimar, Germany
“Digital Asia”, Xian Fine art Institute, Xian, China
Arena: A Post Boom Beijing, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre, Australia
“Flower of Chaos”, Veneto Video art Archive, Verona, Italy
The big bang ，White Rabbit Museum, Sydney, Australia
“Pure Views: China New paintings”, The Louise Blouin Foundation, London，British
Nanjing Biennial, Jiangsu Province New Art Museum, Nanjing, China
2009 Beijing Time, Casa Asia Matadero Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Heart - the forefront of contemporary architecture in China Exhibition,
CIVA, Brussels, Belgium
CIFF,RCM ART MUSEUM, Nanjing, China
Chongqing Youth Art Biennial, Chongqing, China
Ink Not Ink，Drexel University Art Museum，Philadelphia, USA
This Ability- International New Media Art Exhibition & Symposium
CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
The first Youth Art Biennial in Chongqing, Chongqing International
Convention and Exhibition Center, Chongqing, China
Sino-German Contemporary Art Exhibition, Wuhan Museum, Wuhan, China
Beyond globalization, Beyond. Art. Space, Beijing,China
Third Asian Youth Animation Competition, International Conference Center
in Guizhou Province, Guiyang, China
The fourth Independent Film Exhibition, Li Xianting Film Fund, Beijing, China
White rabbit collection from Chinese contemporary art，White Rabbit Museum, Sydney, Australia
13th session of the Microwave International New Media Arts Festival, Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Museum, Hong Kong, China
"China's Digital Art Exhibition", Kuala Lumpur International Trade Center, Malaysia
On love? On War? Stux Gallery, New York, United States
China: the contemporary rebirth, Palazzo Reale Museum, Milan, Italy
Warm Winter ,Sunny, 008, Jiangfu art district ,Beijing ,china
2008 “55 Days in Valencia”, Valencia Museum of Modern Art, Valencia, Spain
Transgressive Body, TAPE BERLIN, Berlin, Germany
Time-Lag, the New Power of Chinese Contemporary Art,
Magee Art Gallery, Spain
The Revolution Continues, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Reflective Asia，3rd Nanjing Triennial Asia, Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China
The 6th International Ink Painting Biennial of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Museum, Shenzhen, China
People•history—exhibition of studies of Chinese art of the 20th century, China Central Academy of Fine Arts，Beijing, China
RENDEZ - VOUS, Marella Gallery, Beijing, China
SEMIOSIS, China Square, New York, USA.
From Head to Toe, Stux Gallery, New York, USA.
Poetic Realism, A Reinterpretation of Jiangnan, Francisco Tomásy Valiente Art Center, Madrid, Spain
Intimate Trend, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, China
Sculpture & Painting in an Era of Digital Images, No.10 Art Institute of Konggang, Chengdu, China
Free Fall, Chen Ling Hui Contemporary Space, Beijing, China
Waiting In the Wings, Beyond Art Space, Beijing, China
Passing through, Art 39th Basel, Beijing art Now gallery, Basel, Switzerland
The Sichuan Movement, the National Museum of Indonesia, Indonesia
Enclaves New Contemporary Paintings of China，Square Gallery of Contemporary Art，Nanjing，China
Paratissima 2008: The 'Off Event' of Artissima, San Salvario, Torin, Italy
Black Rock Art Video/New Media Lounge, Art Miami 2008, Art Miami Pavilion, Miami, USA
Lovely blossoms and full moon ，YUZ Museum，Jakarta，Indonesia
The supplemental History, Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
2007 Starting from Southwest, Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
We Go To Shanghai, Beijing Art Now Gallery Shanghai Station, China
Chinese Whisper, Osage Kwun Tong, Hong Kong, China
New Painting from Southwest China, K Gallery, Chengdu, China
From New Figurative Image to New Painting, Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
3 Langue 3 Colors, UM Gallery, Seoul, Korea
3th Guiyang Art Biennale, Guiyang Art Museum, Guizhou, China
The Art of Seduction—From Schiele to Warhol, Minoritenkloster Tulln, Austria
The Alteration of Vision, Tang Contemporary Art, Bangkok Thailand
China Now, Cobra Museum of Modern Art, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
The Seven Plateaus, Ming Art Gallery, Beijing798, China
Wild Beasts, Mook Gallery of Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
Floating, New Generation of Art in China, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea
Transparent Ju，Tibet Art Museum， China
Post Avant-garde—Chinese Contemporary Art Four Directions of the New Era， Atting House， Hong Kong， China
Reconstructed World View, K gallery, Chengdu, China
The New Literati, Osage Gallery, Singapore
Works in Progress, Beijing Tokyo Art Projects, China
Interpret Shenzhen, Shenzhen Art Museum, China
Beyond of Image--China New Painting, Shanghai Art Mmuseum, China
2006 Jiang Hu, Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, U.S.A.
City Skin, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen，China
Internal Injuries, Marella Arte Contemporanea, Beijing, China
Poetic Realism: A Reinterpretation of Jiangnan, RCM Art Museum, Nanjing, China
Enchanting Images of a Changing World, Vienna Essl Museum, Austria
Unclear and Cleamess, Heyri Art Foundation, Korea
The Road Map of Painting 2, Beijing Tokyo Art Projects, China
1st Annals Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art, Beijing China Millennium Monument, China
Chanting Our Happy Life, the 2nd China Songzhuang Culture Art Festival, China
Varied Images, Shanghai Art Museum, China
Size Decides Attitude—First 5×7〞Picture-Taking Biennale Pingyao, Pingyao Shanxi, China
Fitment OCAT ，CAT—Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, China
Beyond Dimension, Square Gallery of Contemporary Art, Nanjing, China
Common Link, Vanessa Art Link, Beijing, China
2005 China Contemporary Painting, Fondazione Cassa Di Risparmioin Bologna, Italy
Live in Chengdu, the Modern Art Museum, Chengdu, China
2th Prague Biennial, Prague, National Gallery Veletrzni Palac, Prague
2th Triennial of Chinese Arts, Nanjing Art Museum, Nanjing, China
Conceptual Art—Exhibit of Contemporary Paintings From China, Tap Seac Gallery, Macao
2th Chengdu Biennial, the Modern Art Museum, Chengdu, China
Transparent Box, Jian Wai SOHO, Beijing, China
The Road Map of Painting, 798 Space, Beijing, China
City Skin, Tap Seac Gallery, Macao
Challenge the Traditional Visual Limits, Shine Art Space, Shanghai, China
Beyond Temporality ，Pingyao International Photography Festival，Pingyao Shanxi，China
Contrasts and Contradictions, Shanghai Contrasts Gallery, China
Touch Without Danger, the 8 Bridge, Shanghai, China
Young Chinese Contemporary Art, Hangar-7, Austria
China Contemporary Painting, APalazzo Bricherasio, Torino, Italy
Conspire, TS1 Contemporary Art Center, 1st Exhibition, Beijing, China
2004 Forbidden Senses?—Sensuality in Contemporary Chinese Art, Espace Culturel Francois Mitterand, Perigueux, France
China Today Painting—Infeld-Haus der Kulturen, Vienna, Austria
China's Photographic Painting, Art Seasons, Beijing, China
Officina Asia, Galleria d’Arte Modema. Bologna, Italy
Hua Jia Di, Art Seasons, Beijing, China
New Perspectives in Chinese Painting, Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milano, Italy
Artificial Happiness, RMIT Museum Melbourne, Australia
Live in Chengdu, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Exhibition of Nominates for Art Documentation ，Art Gallery of Hubei Academy of Art ，Wuhan，China
2003 Reconstruction 798, 798 Factory Beijing, China
Artificial Happiness, Jiang Art Center Beijing, China
3th China National Exhibition of Oil Painting, China National Art Gallery, Beijing, China
Left Hand - Right Hand—A Sino - German Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Beijing 798 Space, China
China’s Photographic Painting, Beijing Normal University, China
Mo ye mo de ，Mo ye mo bu de, Liaogezi, 798 Factory, Beijing, China
Composite Picture of Asian, Hong Kong Art Museum, Hong Kong, China
Image of image, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Illusory, Museun63, Hongkong, Guangdong Art Museum, China
Links between Two Points, Tokyo Gallery, Japan
2002 Dream—Chinese contemporary Art, CAC, Manchester, U.K.
Korean Contemporary Art Festival, Seoul Art Center, Korean
Triennial of Chinese Arts, Guangzhou Art Museum, China
Beijing Afloat, Beijing Tokyo Art Projects Beijing, China
2001 Up-Down - Right-Left, the Feminism etc, the Modern Art Museum, Chengdu, China
Reshuffle—Contemporary Chinese Art Show, Shenzhen Sculpture Institute, China
Dream—Chinese Contemporary art, Atlantic’s Gallery, London, U.K.
Mythology of China, Yidian Gallery, Shanghai, China
Youth in transition, He Xiangning Art Museum Shenzhen, China
2000 Time of Reviving—2000’Contemporary Art Exhibition of China, Upriver Gallery, Chengdu, China
2000’Nanjing Contemporary International Art Exhibition, Jiangsu Province Art Museum
of Nanjing, China
Between the Dreams and the Picturesque Meaning—Vienna between 1900 and 2000, Schloss Cappenberg, Deutschland
1999 99’Academic Exhibition Upriver Gallery, Chengdu, China
99’Nanjing Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
1998 Beauty and Beast, Hanmo Gallery, Beijing, China
1997 Urban Personality and Contemporary Art, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China
1996 Personal Experience Show, Art Museum of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing, China
Awards
2009 Chongqing Youth Art Biennial Prize for outstanding works，Chongqing
2008 2nd Critics Annual, Young Artist of the Year Prize, Beijing
1996 Lu Xun Fine Arts Institute, Mei Yuan Cup, First Prize, Shengyang
Public Collections
Upriver Gallery, Chengdu, China
Shenzhen He Xiangning Art Museum, China
Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Guangdong Art Museum, China
Qinghe Art Museum, Nanjing, China
Kunst Akademie Muenster, Germany
Square Gallery of Contemporary Art, Nanjing, China
Thomastik-Infeld Foundation， Vienna， Italy
Heavenly stone Foundation in SanFrancisco, U.S.A
Chinese Contemporary Art Foundation, Belgium
Fondazione Cassa Di Risparmioin Bologna, Italy
Fondazione Golinelli Bologna, Italy
Foundation 3,14 Bergen, Norway
Saatchi gallery, British
Fundacíon de Cultura y Arte (IAC)
Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, China
White Rabbit Museum, Sydney, Australia
YUZ Museum，Jakarta， Indonesia
