ZHANG WEI
Biography
Zhang Wei (°1977, Shangluo city, Shaanxi province, China). His work has been exhibited at Centre de la Photographie, Geneva; Power Station of Art, Shanghai; Shanghai Center of Photography; Moscow Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Art, Guangzhou. Once was a painter, but in recent years he has chosen photography. He is a creator of fictional images through photographs rather than a photographer. No matter how documentary the photos or videos are, they are not objective themselves, because the lens is full of limitations from machinery and human beings, and the productive technique of an image is just the substitute or the virtual image of the objective image after all. However, because photographic pictures are more close to objective images, they are more “real” than paintings, and also more convenient and efficient than paintings, Zhang Wei put down his brushes and picked up camera and mouse. The main reason motivating him should be his strong desire for expression, rather than his obsession with brush/paint, camera/film.
Awards
Xishuangbanna Foto Festival Nomination of the Excellent Photography Works—2014 New Foto Award of China— 2013
The Top 20 of China— 2012
The Global Times 2010 Artists Award Of The Year— 2010
Sovereign Asian Art Prize— 2009
Lishui international foto festival award— 2009
Selected Solo Exhibitions
Artificial Theater, Art & Public Cabinet PH, Geneva Switzerland and Centre de la Photographie, Geneva, Switzerland— 2015 …
Zhang Wei currently lives and works in Beijing, China.
Zhang Wei, Temporary performers, 2008. Photographie – 110 × 86 cm
(Courtesy of co-founder & collector Maxime Bureau)