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 was born in Xi’an in 1980, China. He currently lives and works in Chengdu.
Born in 1980, in Bazhong, Sichuan Province, China.
Works and lives in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
COLLECTIONS
Chinese Image and Vedio Archive, Canada
Williams College Museum of Arts, USA
CAFA Art Museum, China
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019
Where the River Bends, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China
Zhang Kechun: New Work, Huxley-Parlour Gallery, London, UK
Yellow Ricer 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
2020
Bangkok Art Biennale, Bangkok, Thailand
China Imagined, Breda Photo 2020, Grote Kerke (Big Church), Breda, Netherlands
Les flots écoulés ne reviennent pas à leur source, Abbaye de Jumièges, France
2019
Art Xiamen 2019, Three Shadows +3 Gallery, Xiamen, China
Photo London 2019, Huxley-Parlour, London, UK
The Photography Show 2019, Huxley-Parlour, Birmingham, New York, USA
Beijing Contemporary 2019, 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, China
Paesaggi Critici, Centro Internazionale di Fotografia, Palermo, Italy
2017
FotoFest – International Discoveries VI, Silver Street Studios, Houston, USA
Fine Art Asia 2017, La Galerie Paris 1839, Hong Kong
he Photography Show 2017, AIPAD, Robert Mann Gallery, Birminghan, UK
Art Central 2017, La Galerie Paris 1839, Hong Kong
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 Bogotá2017, FOTOMUSEO National Museum of Photography in Colombia,
Bogota, Colombia
Chinese Contemporary Photography, Tel Aviv, Israel
2016
Beetles + Huxley, Photo London 2016, Huxley-Parlour, London, UK
Daegu Photo Biennale Repositioned Personal, Daegu, South Korea
Start Ching Conceptual Space, Blue Roof Art Museum, Chengdu, China
London Art Fair, Islington Business Design Centre, London, UK
2015
The Photographers 2015, Huxley-Parlour, London, UK
Art Souterrain, Montreal, Canada
Dunhuang—Song of Living Beings, Himalayas Museum, Shanghai, China
Paris Photo, Grand Palais, Paris, France
The Photographers 2015, Osborne Samuel gallery, London, UK
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
The 6rd L’Iris d’Or Award Exhibition, Somerset House, London, UK
Collection Exhibition, 1st Beijing Photo Biennial, The China Millennium Monument, Beijing, China
Delhi International Photography Festival, Delhi, India
The 5rd Dali International Photography Biennale, Dali, China
The 6rd LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph, Charlottesville, USA
The 3rd Chengdu Multi-dimensional View Photo Exhibition, Fanmate Art Museum, Chengdu, China
Remote Places, Close Spaces – Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, UK
The 1rd Future Master Exhibition, Winshare Art Museum, Chengdu, China
2012
Get It Louder, Sanlitun Village, Beijing, China
The Interactions – Yixian International Photo Festival, Yixian, China
The 8rd Angkor Photography Festival, Siem Reap, Kampuchea
There There – Photographic Exhibition, Cork City, Ireland
The 4rd 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 Centre, Beijing
2010
Right In Front of Your Eyes Exhibition, Chengdu International Photography Center, Chengdu, China
Southern Documentary Photography Exhibition, Guangdong, China
AWARDS
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