SHANGHAI — The objects in Chinese artist Zhang Enli’s paintings are usually calm and even mundane. But he says they reveal his understanding of human emotions.
Several new works were leaning against the walls of his Shanghai studio the day of ARTINFO's visit. A constant fixure on his latest canvases is the rubber tube. They take on different colors and sizes. Most are hanging from hooks in ambiguous situations. Zhang Enli says his work explores his fascination with his memory and the objects from it.
“In my work, I use objects from today in place of ones from the past. But the feelings they represent are still from my childhood,” said Zhang Enli.
As one of the Chinese contemporary artists showing extensively around the world, Zhang Enli’s work doesn’t seem that “Chinese”. An old leather sofa, a glass sugar bowl, an opened umbrella are all shown intimately and gently. “I excluded explicit symbols; the ones people usually associate with China.” It might be his way of connecting with a broad and diverse global audience.
In this video, Zhang Enli talks about his idea of the relationship between the city in which he lives and works.