Soul (06.08)

Zheng Delong was born in Chengdu in the Sichuan Province in 1976. His powerful, colourful canvases executed with a swirling, blurring and metallic appearance give a strong impression of his subjects, who appear to be constantly in a state of torment. As they come in and out of focus, and twist and turn throughout the canvas, the viewer is reminded of the similar state of mind experienced by the younger generations of Chinese youth following the Cultural Revolution. In what Zheng terms the “disintegration process”, our perceptions of his paintings are blurred as he hides and reveals both the vague and apparent emotions embedded in his life and work.

Zheng has been exhibiting in Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, London and America since a very young age. His work was recently included in a major exhibition at the Federal Reserve in Washington D.C. The exhibition, held in April 2006, included works by 17 of the most important and influential Chinese artists working today, including: Fang Lijun, Feng Zhengjie, He Sen, Wang Guangyi, Yang Shaobin, Yue Minjun and Zhang Xiaogang.