Fine Art | Zhang MIng Yang art

'THE ELOQUENCE OF RIDICULOUS RHETORIC'

A bold concept artwork that integrates the elegance of Chinese calligraphy with the beautitful harmonies of classical music. In his attempt to counter cyber-bullying, Zhang spent hours researching to see how badly behaved people were on the internet.

What he gathered by the end of it, was astounding. The level of unkindness was unbelievable. Hear what he has to say.

"I couldn't believe my eyes. Being as victim of bullying as a child, it sent shivers up my spine when I thought about poor young souls being subject to these unwarranted disparaging remarks. The easy thing to say to them, is simply to ignore them. But that would be mere convenience and it trivalises what the victims are truly struggling with. I wanted to do something about it and decided not to fight fire with fire, but to flip things on its head and overwhelm them with beauty instead."

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"I crave movement in my new work. Movement that provokes a conflict of opposing forces, movement that is the outcome of strangely contained and compressed energy."

About the Artist

Zhang Mingyang has been in selected solo and group exhibitions over the last 10 years as he relentlessly sought his signature artistic voice. Self-taught, he paints with acrylic, oil and charcoal as he observes and subverts personal, historical and global issues through his paintings, which unravel feelings of fragility or desire, and often they draw on human experiences.

His passion for old classic films also lets him explore the relationship between painting and films, to create cinematic screenshots of life’s more visceral, poignant moments. His work seeks the chasm between abstract expressionism and figurative. Zhang often paints in a flurry of hurried gestural strokes to the midpoint almost at first, then it is gradually coaxed, urged and seduced to a glorious finish.

In Progress

for 'CITY OF TWO TALES' solo exhibition

NUMBER ONE

2018

32" BY 24"

Oil, acrylic, charcoal

and graphite on canvas

NUMBER TWO

2018

32" BY 24"

Oil, acrylic, charcoal

and graphite on canvas

NUMBER THREE

2018

32" BY 24"

Oil, acrylic, charcoal

and graphite on canvas

Artist Statement

Every week, dripping with desperation, snaking lines of people form at the neighbourhood betting outlets to check 6 boxes for a winning TOTO combination that may land them the first prize of $1 million or more.

For some of them, this lottery win is a long vacation, for others, it pays off their debts while for migrant workers, it’s a ticket home to provide for their families.

Juxtaposed against this observation, the artist is also inspired by German-American philosopher Hannah Arendt who famously coined the Banality of Evil in her controversial analysis of the Jerusalem trial of Adolf Eichmann after World War Two. In the human condition, Arendt argues for a tripartite division between the human activities (animal laboran) of labor, work, and action.

The artist is also intrigued by the concept of Homo faber, articulated by Hannah Arendt and Max Scheler, which refers to humans as controlling the environment through tools.

This are ‘Number One’, ‘Number Two' and ‘Number Three’ of 49 boxes.

Previous Work