Just over twenty years ago, Beijing East Village artist Zhang Huan returned to China from an extended stay in New York, settling in Shanghai and establishing a large studio where he produced striking new paintings made of ash, now on view at 125 Newbury. Resulting from incense sticks burnt by visitors to Buddhist temples, the ash moved from a personal, devotional context into a communal work environment as Zhang’s teams of assistants sorted the material by tone to adhere it to the surface of canvas. Basing his images on 20th century media archives and propaganda photos, the artist presents pictures from history in an impermanent material, suggesting the transitory nature of life at both a personal and national scale. (On view through April 4th).
