Zhao Gang is a wanderer between two worlds. At the age of just 18, he was the youngest member of legendary avant-garde artist group The Stars, which also included Ai Weiwei. Their 1979 group exhibition, and the protests that followed, are often cast as the birth of contemporary Chinese art. Shortly thereafter Gang left for Europe and the United States. Having acquired American citizenship, he is regarded as one of the few artists of his generation who truly understands the East and the West – yet who looks at both worlds with a certain detachment. In his figurative paintings, however, he merges their different visual languages, increasingly turning toward examinations of his personal history and the historical roots of contemporary China. This monograph provides an overview of six central exhibitions from recent years, and introduces the life and work of this rebellious, sensitive, and mischievous painter.

ZHAO GANG (*1961, Beijing) left China in 1983 to study fine arts in Maastricht and at Vasaar College in Upstate New York. After more than two decades in New York he returned to China in 2006. He is one of the most recognized Chinese contemporary painters, and lives between Beijing and New York. Among his recent exhibitions is the major group show Art and China after 1989 at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, in 2017.