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Lot #44 - Zhang Huan

  • Auction House:
    Bonhams Australia
  • Sale Name:
    Sherman | 100
  • Sale Date:
    11 May 2022 ~ 5pm (AEST)
  • Lot #:
    44
  • Lot Description:
    Zhang Huan
    (Chinese, born 1965)
    Soft-Hard Kungfu, 2005
    silkscreen on Chinese Xuan paper, edition 43 of 68 (16)
    90.0 x 53.0cm (35 7/16 x 20 7/8in). (each)
    signed and dated lower left: 'Zhang Huan / 2005'; editioned lower left: '43/68'
  • Provenance:
    Sherman Galleries, Sydney (stamped verso); The Gene & Brian Sherman Collection, Sydney
  • Exhibited:
    Zhang Huan, Sherman Galleries, Sydney, 9 November - 2 December 2006
  • Notes:
    In 'Soft-Hard Kungfu', 2005, Zhang Huan has used poses taken from an old, traditional Kung Fu book as the model for photographs of himself, which were then superimposed over the original and screenprinted. There is no long tradition of performance art in China, at least until the 1990s when Zhang Huan revived the form. His 'Soft-Hard Kungfu' posits similarities and differences between his performance practice and this ancient martial art. Fascinated by the complex meanings generated by physical action and the hierarchical movements, Zhang comments on the rituals of day-to-day life, the aggressive and defensive gestures we practice and perfect to interact and to cope with ordinary social interaction. The image in one of the prints of the artist bashing his head against a brick wall is amusing and telling.' Michael Desmond, Curator of Art, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra in exh. cat. Zhang Huan's work first came to our attention in Witness (12 March–16 May 2004, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA)) curated by Rachel Kent. Hand in hand, Brian and I walked, eyes shining, into a space saturated by the nine-piece Family Tree series. The artist's larger than life monumental heads, initially smooth and pale, were progressively blackened by clusters of calligraphic marks until the solid dark surfaces radically transformed the artist-subject's physiognomy. As we entered the exhibition, packed tightly into what felt like a relatively intimate, intensely hung space, the works surrounded and astounded us. Firmly anchoring the stunning suite of photos as a solid centrepiece, lay a bronze figure overhung by a monumental bronze bell; both of which struck an immovable note against which the fluid flow of the heads and text sat in opposition. 'We should buy the whole show', whispered my astute, beloved husband. And we almost did – acquiring, (as did the Pompidou at a much later date), the full photomedia set, albeit sans bronzes. The decision set us on a Zhang Huan path which took us, in 2017, to his studio in Shanghai. We arrived during one of China's rare national holidays to meet the artist who generously returned from a family gathering in his home village to welcome and host us during the course of an astonishing afternoon. Surprise and amazement accompanied our movements down a long gravel pathway bordered on the left by studios specific to a dozen different mediums – painting, printmaking, works on paper, sculpture and more. On the right, artisan workers' dormitories lined the stretch of road – at the time emptied of their inhabitants who had rare time off for the precious Golden Week break. The studio and complex commenced with a sorting house – wherein temple ash was graded according to colour and texture – a logical introduction to the next, much larger space in which variously scaled pictures were in progress or had just been completed by the artist in preparation for worldwide exhibitions. We kept in touch periodically with Zhang Huan over the years. In 2006, when our identical twin grandsons were born, two small matching textile sculptures arrived chez nous from our artist-friend, signalling and/or symbolising their birth. The works for our two little spiritual beings, now grown but still innocent and untouched by the complexities of the world, connect back to our day in the artist's temple ash studio. Zhang Huan has become increasingly famous – and is now represented by the hugely influential, active-worldwide Pace Gallery – and in 2020, was invited to exhibit in a major solo show at the legendary Hermitage Museum. Dr Gene Sherman
  • Estimate:
    A$10,000 - 15,000
  • Realised Price:
    *****

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  • Category:
    Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.



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