Zhang He | New Paintings

June 9 - June 30, 2016

Opening Reception: Thursday, June 9, 6-9pm

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Odon Wagner Contemporary is pleased to present our fourth solo exhibition of new paintings by Chinese-Canadian contemporary artist, Zhang He.

Energy. The source of all things, material and immaterial. If energy (ch’i) has a signature, it could resemble the abstract calligraphic dance of paint in the hands of Zhang He. If the creative principle or force behind nature were potentially an algorithm, a program for infusing the formless with structure, then its designer’s autograph might resemble the vibrant paths of these bold images.

At the abstract or atomic level, energy is a trickster, what indigenous peoples call a shapeshifter: one second it’s a leaf, the next minute it’s a tree, the next century it’s a mountain. Zhang He’s paintings feel like a portrait of the trickster in action, and they give what used to be called action painting a new lease on life, a secret life. There is an atomic ambiguity at work here, and whether they metaphorically depict trees, flowers, tidal waves or volcanic eruptions, as “Abundance”, “Bouquet”, “Between Waves” or “Fireworks” all seem to do, they each share the element of exploding into an eternity of colour.

– Excerpt from catalogue essay written by Donald Brackett

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