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    ZHANG KECHUN

    ZHANG KECHUN

    Zhang Kechun’s photographs reflect the calm and empathy with which the artist approached his subject: the idea of ​​an initiatory journey born from the reading of Zhang Chengzi’s poem River of the North. Zhang Kechun traveled for two years through different regions from the River Estuary in Shandong Province to his source in the Bayan Har Mountains.

    His style strongly inspired by the traditional representation of the landscape combined with an objective photographic approach, human traces are still visible, the omnipresent urbanization and industrial development has reached the most remote rural areas. Its palette includes the yellowish hues of the Loess Plateau and the deep blacks of the extractive industries that pollute the soil without respite. Slightly saturated details sometimes highlight unexpected appearances in abandoned and ghostly places, offering poetic and almost surreal nuances to the shot. Here the impact of man on changing landscapes, strangely coexist with the nostalgic and static image of the great river.

    Zhang Kechun, born in Bazhong, Sichuan Province, currently lives and works in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, has been awarded the Discovery Award by the Arles Photography Festival in France. His works have been featured in exhibitions such as the Museum of Photography Berlin, the Bangkok Contemporary Art Biennale, and the Arles Photography Festival. His artworks examine China’s post-industrial landscapes. He captures epic scenes with large-format cameras that hold significant meaning in terms of national identity. Zhang explores the relationship between cultural heritage and the influence of modernization.

    For inquiries

      Born in 1980, in Bazhong, Sichuan Province, China.
      Works and lives in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.

      COLLECTIONS

      Museum of Photography, Berlin, Germany
      Baltimore Museum of Art, USA
      KADIST, San Francisco, USA
      Bangkok Art Biennale Foundation, Thailand
      A4 Art Museum, Chengdu, China
      Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum, China
      Chinese Image and Video Archive, Canada
      Williams College Museum of Arts, USA
      CAFA Art Museum, China

      SOLO EXHIBITIONS

      2022
      Yellow Mood: Along a River and Mountains, Geological Museum, Ramat HaSharon, Israel

      2020
      Chinese Landscape, Yima Gallery, Chengdu, China

      2019
      Zhang Kechun: New Work, Huxley-Parlour, London, UK
      Where the River Bends, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China
      Yellow River of China, Wanda Hollensteiner Gallery, The Wright Museum at Beloit College, Wisconsin, USA

      2016
      Zhang Kechun – Between the Mountains and Water, La Galerie Paris 1839, Hong Kong
      Zhang Kechun, Huxley-Parlour, London, UK
      Zhang Xiao & Zhang Kechun, Double Solo Exhibitions, Aki Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

      2015
      The Yellow River solo Exhibition, La Galerie Paris 1839, Hong Kong
      The Metaphorical River, 10 Corso Como, Shanghai, China

      2014
      The Yellow River, Three shadows +3 gallery, Beijing, China

      GROUP EXHIBITIONS

      2023
      Echo of Water, Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art, Yinchuan, China
      Interface, Agtrix3 Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

      2022
      Group show: Zhang Kechun, Wang Qingsong, Yao Lu, Andong Culture and Arts Center, Andong, South Korea
      More than Meets the Eye: 10 Years of Three Shadow+3 Gallery, Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing, China

      2021
      A Show about Nothing, By Art Matters, Hangzhou, China

      2020
      Bangkok Art Biennale, Bangkok, Thailand
      Not standing still, Museum of Australian Photography, Melbourne, Austrialia
      Art and Architecture Festival, K11 Museum, Shanghai, China
      Epoch Art Museum, Wenzhou, China
      Flowing Waters Never Returen to the Source: Photographers Gazing at the River in China, Jumièges Abbey, France
      China Imagined, Breda Photo 2020, Grote Kerke (Big Church), Breda, The Netherlands

      2019
      A Stitch in Time, Curated by Du Huang, Jonathan Harris, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
      Golden Panda Photography Awards 2019 Exhibition, Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum, Chengdu, China

      2018
      The Photography Show 2018, Huxley-Parlour, Birmingham, UK
      Seoul Photo Festival 2018, Brave New World, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
      Social Geography: Ten Journeys with a camera, Shanghai Center of Photography, Shanghai, China
      Working on History – Contemporary Chinese Photography and the Cultural Revolution, Museum of Photography, Berlin, Germany
      Mountain Water River Lake: New Media Art Exhibition, Luozhongli Art Museum, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
      Paesaggi Critici, Centro Internazionale di Fotografia, Palermo, Italy

      2017
      FotoFest – International Discoveries VI, Silver Street Studios, Houston, USA
      Working on History, SMB, Museum of Photography, Berlin, Germany
      DongGang International Photo Festival, DongGang Photo Museum, Korea
      Athens Photo Festival, Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
      Fotográfica Bogotá 2017, FOTOMUSEO National Museum of Photography in Colombia, Bogota, Colombia
      Chinese Contemporary Photography, Tel Aviv, Israel

      2016
      Daegu Photo Biennale Repositioned Personal, Daegu, South Korea
      Start Ching Conceptual Space, Blue Roof Art Museum, Chengdu, China

      2015
      Art Souterrain, Montreal, Canada
      Dunhuang—Song of Living Beings, Himalayas Museum, Shanghai, China

      2014
      09 years since the new photography in China, The Wuhan Museum of Art, Hubei, China
      Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France
      Lianzhou Foto Festival, Lianzhou, China
      Contemporary Photography in China 2009-2014, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
      The Yellow River, Three shadows +3 gallery, Beijing, China

      2013
      The 4th edition of PHOTOQUAI world photography Biennale, Musee du Quai Branly, Paris, France
      L’Iris d’Or Award Exhibition, Somerset House, London, UK
      1st Beijing Photo Biennial, The China Millennium Monument, Beijing, China
      Delhi International Photography Festival, Delhi, India
      Dali International Photography Biennale, Dali, China
      LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph, Charlottesville, USA
      Chengdu Multi-dimensional View Photo Exhibition, Fanmate Art Museum, Chengdu, China
      Remote Places, Close Spaces – Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, UK
      Future Master Exhibition, Winshare Art Museum, Chengdu, China

      2012
      Get It Louder, Sanlitun Village, Beijing, China
      The Interactions – Yixian International Photo Festival, Yixian, China
      Angkor Photography Festival, Siem Reap, Kampuchea
      There There – Photographic Exhibition, Cork City, Ireland
      Jinan International Photography Biennale, Jinan, China
      CAFAM – Future Exhibition, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
      Crossover: The 2013 Three Shadows Photography Award Exhibition, Three Shadows Photography Center, Beijing

      2010
      Right In Front of Your Eyes Exhibition, Chengdu International Photography Center, Chengdu, China
      Southern Documentary Photography Exhibition, Guangdong, China

      AWARDS

      2023
      Sony World Photography Award, First Place

      2019
      Golden Panda Photography Awards, Winner

      2014
      Les Rencontres d’Arles Discovery Award, Winner
      Daynight photo awards, Winner
      The Prix HSBC pour la Photographie, Nominated

      2013
      Sony World Photography Awards, Nominated

      2012
      Sony World Photography Awards, Nominated

      2008
      National Geographic Picks Global, Winner

      PUBLICATIONS

      2018
      The Yellow River, Ilford Archiva Prestige

      2017
      Contemporary Chinese Photographer and Cultural Revolution, Kerber Bielefeld Berlin