Art and Ideology: A Conversation with Artist Zhang Hongtu

Zhang Hongtu, one of the most important living Chinese contemporary artists, weaves together elements from Chinese and Western art. Join us for a conversation between the artist and Wende Museum’s assistant curator Jamie Kwan, in which Zhang will speak about his experience living through the Cultural Revolution and its effect on his art, especially his iconic “Material Mao” and “Long Live Chairman Mao” series. 

Zhang Hongtu was born and raised in a devoted Chinese Muslim family. Zhang entered the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts in Beijing in 1964 and graduated in 1969, but due to unrest during the Cultural Revolution, remained at the school until 1973. In 1980 he went to the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, to study wall paintings, which left a lasting influence on his art practice. He moved to New York in 1982, and received the painting prize from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in 1991. He has exhibited internationally, and his work is housed in renowned institutions and private collections, such as the National Museum of Art, Beijing, China; Guangzhou Art Museum, Guangzhou, China; Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY; Princeton University Art Museum, NJ, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, among many others.