Zhang Huan

© Photo credit：Tony Metaxas

© Photo credit：Tony Metaxas

The sculpture by Zhang Huan is a pair of pandas, one named "He He" (Great Peace) and the other "Xie Xie" (Great Harmony). They are made from mirror-finished stainless steel. The piece represents a harmonious society, harmonious world, harmonious Expo, the togetherness of people, and the beauty of having a city in harmony. In the Chinese language, there is an expression that says, "Harmony between countries is what matters. If we conduct ourselves so that the family lives in harmony, all affairs will prosper."

Zhang Huan

Born in 1965 in An Yang, He Nan Province, China
Lives and works in Shanghai and New York (USA).

Zhang Huan is acclaimed as one of the foremost artists of the new wave from China. He is primarily a performance artist but also takes photographs and sculpts. He founded a studio in Shanghai, where he has expanded his medium. He has introduced such experimental materials as incense ashes, cow leather and ancient door planks leading him to do a series of ash paintings and leather sculptures. Zhang Huan's artistic practice examines his personal, cultural and artistic negotiations in response to his immediate environment. In 2009, Zhang Huan was invited by the Royal Opera House of Belgium to be the artistic director of Handel's opera, Semele.

Selected solo shows:
2010: Zhang Huan: Dawn of Time, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China; Zhang Huan: Amituofo, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan. 2009: Neither Coming Nor Going, PaceWildenstein, New York (USA); Zhang Huan, Zhu Gangqiang, White Cube, London, UK; Zhang Huan: Memory Doors, Haunch of Venison, Zurich, Switzerland; Zhang Huan, Rebirth, ProjectB Contemporary Art, Milano, Italy. 2008: Zhang Huan: Blessings, PaceWildenstein, New York; Zhang Huan: Altered States, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada; Zhang Huan, Paintings and Sculptures, Diehl + Gallery One, Moscow, Russia; Zhang Huan, Works from the Collection Caspar H. Schubbe, DSV Group, Stuttgart, Germany. 2007: Zhang Huan: Altered States, Asia Society, New York; Zhang Huan: Ash, Haunch of Venison, London; Zhang Huan: Berlin Buddha, Haunch of Venison, Berlin, Germany; Zhang Huan, PhotoEspana 2007, Madrid, Spain; Zhang Huan - Drawings, Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin.