This interview was conducted at Zhang Xiaogang's studio in Beijing on 9 July 2009. 


Biography:

Zhang Xiaogang (b. 1958, Kunming, Yunnan Province) is an artist and currently lives and works in Beijing.

Zhang studied oil painting at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (SFAI) between 1978 and 1982. In 1985, Zhang collaborated with Mao Xuhui, Pan Dehai, Hou Wenyi, Zhang Long and others to organize the ‘New Concrete Image' exhibition in Shanghai and Nanjing, one of the earliest self-financed exhibitions of the ’85 New Wave. Zhang also helped to establish the Southwestern Art Research Group with friends in Kunming, and lectured at SFAI. In 1989, his work was exhibited in the ‘China/Avant-Garde Exhibition’ at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. In the early '90s, Zhang began to develop his painting series The Big Family, which referenced photographs taken during the Cultural Revolution.

Zhang’s works have been collected by museums, galleries and private collectors, and are exhibited widely. Selected exhibitions include the Guangzhou Biennial (1992), ‘China’s New Art, Post-1989’ (Hong Kong, 1993), the 22nd Sao Paulo Biennial (Brazil, 1994) and the 46th Venice Biennale (1995), to name a few.


簡歷︰

張曉剛，1958年生於昆明。藝術家，現在北京生活及工作。

1978—1982年間就讀於四川美術學院油畫系。1985年張曉剛與毛旭輝、潘德海等自費在上海、南京舉辦展覽《新具象》畫展，這是「八五新潮」中最早的自費展覽之一。隨後他又與朋友在昆明成立「西南藝術研究群體」，後參與了在北京中國美術館舉行的《中國現代藝術展》。自九十年代開始，他按舊照片創作⟨大家庭⟩系列，以表現革命時代的臉譜化肖像。
 
張晓刚多次參加國內外藝術展覽，作品被國內外多家美術館、畫廊及私人收藏。重要展覽包括《廣州 雙年展》（1992，廣州）；《後八九中國新藝術展》（1993，香港）；第22屆《聖保羅雙年展》（1994，巴西聖保羅）；第46屆《威尼斯雙年展》（1995，威尼斯）等。