1968  出生于四川南充
1990  畢業(yè)于四川美術(shù)學(xué)院
現(xiàn)工作、生活在北京、成都

個(gè)展

2007  幻影-趙能智作品展  張江當(dāng)代美術(shù)館  上海
      幻覺-趙能智作品展  曼谷當(dāng)代唐人藝術(shù)中心  曼谷
      幻覺-趙能智作品展  北京當(dāng)代唐人藝術(shù)中心  北京
2006  “換形”趙能智個(gè)展，朱屺瞻藝術(shù)館，上海
      “趙能智個(gè)展”，藝術(shù)季節(jié)畫廊，雅加達(dá)，印度尼西亞  
      “臉”趙能智個(gè)展，LA 畫-廊，法蘭克福，德國(guó)
2005  “張開嘴，睜大眼”趙能智個(gè)展，紫禁軒畫-廊，北京
2004  “記憶的碎片”--趙能智紙上作品，斯民藝苑，新加坡
2001  “趙能智個(gè)展”，中國(guó)當(dāng)代畫廊，倫敦，英國(guó)
2000  “表情”個(gè)展，香格納畫廊，上海

群展

2007  超越圖象-中國(guó)新繪畫  上海美術(shù)館 上海  
      “ 天行健―――中國(guó)當(dāng)代藝術(shù)前沿展”亞洲藝術(shù)中心北京 北京
      “重構(gòu)的世界圖景”  K畫廊  成都  
      “革命”    中國(guó)廣場(chǎng)  紐約  
      “黑白灰”    今日美術(shù)館  北京
      “從新具象到新繪畫”  北京唐人當(dāng)代藝術(shù)中心  北京
      “口傳和耳聞的四方”  –第三屆貴陽雙年展  貴陽 中國(guó)
      “幻影中的巨人”——中韓現(xiàn)代美術(shù)展 世宗文化會(huì)館 漢城
      “新西南當(dāng)代繪畫展” K畫廊 成都 中國(guó)
      “從西南出發(fā)”--西南當(dāng)代藝術(shù)展1985-2007，廣東美術(shù)館，廣州
      “中國(guó)細(xì)語”，奧沙藝術(shù)中心，香港
2006  “變異的圖像”，上海美術(shù)館，上海
      “張江當(dāng)代藝術(shù)館開幕展”，張 當(dāng)代藝術(shù)館，上海
      “身體”，恒藝術(shù)中心，南京
      “超越的維度”-中國(guó)新繪畫-，四方美術(shù)館，南京
      “虛虛實(shí)實(shí)”，首爾，韓國(guó)
      “巴塞爾藝術(shù)博覽會(huì)”，巴塞爾，瑞士
      “紙的至上”，季節(jié)畫-廊，北京
      “赤裸真相”，當(dāng)代唐人藝術(shù)中心，曼谷，泰國(guó)
      “冷能”，表畫-廊，北京
      “自我造局”，上海證大現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)館，上海
2005  “十點(diǎn)十色”，索卡當(dāng)代空間，北京
      “著陸現(xiàn)實(shí)”，首爾藝術(shù)中心，韓國(guó)
      “麻將”-SIGG收藏展，伯爾尼美術(shù)館，瑞士
      “明日不回眸”，關(guān)渡美術(shù)館，臺(tái)北
      “第一屆蒙彼利?！袊?guó)當(dāng)代藝術(shù)雙年展’”，蒙彼利埃，法國(guó)
      “未來考古學(xué)￡-第二屆中國(guó)藝術(shù)三年展”，南京博物院，南京
      “第二屆成都雙年展”,世紀(jì)城美術(shù)館,成都
2004  “2004在成都”,藍(lán)頂藝術(shù)中心, 成都
      “4+1”中國(guó)當(dāng)代藝術(shù)展, 臺(tái)北亞洲藝術(shù)中心，臺(tái)北
      “居住在成都”, 深圳美術(shù)館，深圳
      “中國(guó)先鋒藝術(shù)”第六部分, 舊金山, 美國(guó)
2003  “相互影響”-中國(guó)當(dāng)代藝術(shù), 雅加達(dá)，印度尼西亞
      “圖像的圖像”2003中國(guó)當(dāng)代油畫-邀請(qǐng)展, 深圳美術(shù)館，深圳
      “新生代￡-后革命”, 炎黃美術(shù)館，北京
2002  “青春殘酷繪”,上海東大名創(chuàng)庫,北京炎黃美術(shù)館
      “中國(guó)新觀念攝影展”第二屆平遙國(guó)際攝影節(jié),平遙
      “蘇黎世國(guó)際當(dāng)代藝術(shù)博覽會(huì)”，蘇黎世，瑞士
      “千年之緣：來自中國(guó)的新藝術(shù)”，紐約，美國(guó)；倫敦，英國(guó)
2001  “藝術(shù)大不同”--以往中國(guó)前衛(wèi)藝術(shù)家的大作, 新加坡
      “男孩女孩”，上河車間，昆明，中國(guó)；斯民藝苑, 新加坡
      “巴塞爾藝術(shù)博覽會(huì)”, 巴塞爾, 瑞士
2000  “表情”-中、港、臺(tái)的表[面]藝術(shù), 臺(tái)北
      “世紀(jì)之門”1979-1999中國(guó)藝術(shù)邀請(qǐng)展，成都
      “成都運(yùn)動(dòng)”，阿姆斯特丹，荷蘭
1999  “99世界財(cái)富論壇”--當(dāng)代藝術(shù)展，上海
      “99國(guó)際藝術(shù)展(Featherstone)”，波士頓，美國(guó)
      “解放￡-開放的邊界”，倫敦，英國(guó)
      “像物質(zhì)一樣的美麗-中國(guó)新觀念藝術(shù)展”，上海
      “上河美術(shù)館‘99學(xué)術(shù)邀請(qǐng)展”，成都
1998  “三張年輕面孔”，香港，臺(tái)北
      “困惑-中國(guó)當(dāng)代繪畫-攝影展”，阿姆斯特丹，荷蘭
      “KunstRAL98”,阿姆斯特丹,荷蘭
      “黑與白”中國(guó)當(dāng)代藝術(shù)展, 倫敦,英國(guó)
1996  “新人獎(jiǎng)”,《江蘇畫-刊》
1994  “切片”藝術(shù)展,重慶
1993  “首屆中國(guó)油畫-雙年展”, 中國(guó)美術(shù)館,北京

1968  Born in Nanchong, Sichuan Province, China
1990  Graduated from Sichuan Academy of Fine Art, Chongqing
Lives and works in Beijing and Chengdu.

Zhao Nengzhi

1968 Born in Nanchong, Sichuan Province, China
1990 Graduated from Sichuan Academy of Fine Art, Chongqing
Lives and works in Beijing and Chengdu.

Solo Exhibition

2007 “phantom”zhaonengzhi Solo Exhibition Z-art Center? shanghai
     “Hallucination” zhaonengzhi Solo Exhibition Tang Contemporary Art, Bangkok,      Thailand
     “Hallucination” zhaonengzhi Solo Exhibition Tang Contemporary Art beijing ，
     beijing
2006 “Transforming” zhao Nengzhi Solo Exhibition, Zhu Qizhan Museum, Shanghai
     “Zhao Nengzhi Solo Exhibition”, Art Seasons, Singapore
     “FACES” -Zhao Nengzhi, L.A.Galerie, Frankfurt
2005 “Open your Mouth Open your Eyes Wide” Zhao Nengzhi Solo Exhibition, LA
     Gallery, Beijing
2004 “Fragments of Memory“ Zhao Nengzhi’s Work on Paper, Soobin Gallery,
     Singapore
2000 “Expression”, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai
2001 “Zhao Nengzhi”, London, UK

Group Exhibition

2007 China’s Neo Painting，A Triumph Over Images Shanghai museum Shanghai
     THE POWER OF THE UNIVERSE –Exhibition of Frontier Contemporary Chinese Art
     Asia art center beijing
     Reconstpuot the world image K Gallery Chengdu
     “Revolution” ChinaSquqre NY
     “black .white and gray” today art musem? beijing
     “From New Figurative Image to New Painting” Tang Contemporary Art beijing
     “word of mouth from four corners ”_Guiyang art Biennale Exhibition 3th 2007      Guiyang Museum Guiyang China
     “Giant in illusion” _Submission of Artworks to the Korea-china Contemporary      art Korea
     New South-West Contemporary Painting Exhibition"? Chengdu China
     “Chinese Whispers”, Osage Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
     “Starting from the Southwest” Exhibition of Contemporary Art in Southwest
     China, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou
2006 “Z-art Center Opening”, Z-art Center, Shanghai
     “Body Heng”, Contemporary Art Center, Nanjing
     “Beyond Dimension” Chinese New Painting, SQUART Gallery of Contemporary Art
     “Unclear and Clearness”, Seoul, Korea
     “Basel Art Fair”, Basel, Switzerland
     “Cold Energy”, Pyo Gallery, Beijing
     “The Naked Truth”, Tang Contemporary Art, Bangkok, Thailand
     “The Self-Made Generation” Retrospective of New Chinese Painting 2005, ZENDAI      MoMA, Shanghai
     “The Power of Art on Paper”, Art Seasons, Beijing
2005 “Grounding Reality”, Seoul Art Center, Korea
     “Ten Eras Ten Colors”, SOKA Contemporary Space, Beijing
     “Mahjong” Chinsieche Gegenwartkunst Aus Der Sammlung Sigg, Berne Museum,      Switzerland
     “Mc1 Biennale Internationale D’Art Contemporain Chinos Montpellier”,      Montpellier, France
     “Archaeology of The Future” The Second Triennial Of Chinese Art, Nanjing      Museum, Nanjing
     “Always to the Front” China Contemporary Art, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts,      Taipei??
     “Chendu Biennial’, Chendu Modern Museum, Chengdu
2004 “2004 in Chengdu”, Blue House Art Center, Chengdu
     “4+1” Chinese Contemporary Art, Asia Art Center, Taipei
     “Live in Chengdu”, Shenzhen Museum, Shenzhen
     “China Avant-garde” (Part VI), LIMN Gallery, San Francisco
2003 “Interplay” Chinese Contemporary Art, Jakarta
     “Image of Images”, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen
     “New Generation and Post-revolution”, Yan Huang Art Museum, Beijing
2002 “The Youth Cruelty Painting”, Shanghai, Beijing
           “International Contemporary Art Fair      Zurich”, Zurich
     “Chinese New Idea Photograph Art”, Pingyao, Shanxi
     “On The Edge of The Millennium: New Art from China”, New York And London
2001 “GELY DIFFERENT” Big Works by 11 Chinese Avant-garde Artists, Singapore
     “ON Boys and Girls”, Kunming and Singapore
     “Basel Art Fair”, Basel, Switzerland
2000 “Expression” Works by Artists from China, Hong Kong, Taipei
     “At the New Century” 1979-1999 China Art Invitation Show, Modem Art Museum,      Chengdu?? ??
     “The Chengdu Movement”, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1999 “International Art Exhibition”, Featherstone, Boston, USA
     “Liberation”, London, UK
     “The Beauty of Materialism”, Huadong Normal College Gallery, Shanghai
     “99’Academic Exhibition”, Upriver Gallery, Chengdu
1998 “Black and White”, China Contemporary, London, UK
     “Three Yong Faces”, Hanat Gallery, Hong Kong
     “Confused”- Reckoning with the Future Contemporary Chinese Paintings &      Photography, Amsterdam, Netherlands
     “Kunst RAL98”, Amsterdam, Netherlands
     “Christie’s Asian Avan-garde”, London, UK
1996 “Best New Artist”, Awarded by Jiangshu Art Monthly
1994 “Fragment”, Chongqing
1993 “Chinese Oil Painting Biennale Exhibition”, China National Gallery, Beijing

趙能智：觀看內(nèi)心不忍看的臉
朱其
觀看趙能智的繪畫，實(shí)際上是觀看一幅內(nèi)心不忍看的臉。那些臉敘述了他內(nèi)心的青春成長(zhǎng)，而后他又借助那些臉，敘述人性和靈魂的掙扎，最終那些臉成為了一個(gè)救贖的船體。那些關(guān)于臉的畫成為一種語言的拯救，語言化的肖像或著那些臉，不再有時(shí)間和青春的特征，而成為一個(gè)靈魂掙扎的深入而細(xì)致的鋪陳。 1990年代末以來的幾乎所有繪畫，都是關(guān)于臉的痛苦陳述，它們是灰色的，像水腫一樣，帶著憂郁、迷惘和恐懼般的眼神，似乎是在觀看某一個(gè)人或者物品，又好像是在觀看鏡子，由鏡子他看到了自己殘忍的面容。 在九十年代末，趙能智找到了一種表現(xiàn)方法，他想將所有的表現(xiàn)力集中在人的臉部，但不是去表現(xiàn)一個(gè)真實(shí)的肖像，而是讓臉成為一個(gè)精神肖像，或者說，一張內(nèi)心的臉。他由此開始將臉的表象陌生化，讓這些臉變得腫脹，或者像被水中浸泡了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間，人性及其他的靈魂好像經(jīng)受了極大的折磨，他由此獲得了一種深刻的痛感，眼神復(fù)雜而恍惚地觀看著，既像在看別人，也像在看待自己的鏡像。 本來趙能智是有可能將這張臉變得臉譜化，但他沒有朝當(dāng)時(shí)繪畫的潮流靠，即繪畫形式上的符號(hào)化和身份的中國(guó)特征，而是走向一種精神肖像的表象。最初精神刻畫的對(duì)象當(dāng)然是青春成長(zhǎng)，這個(gè)系列后來參加了“青春殘酷繪畫”展覽。這個(gè)展覽是九十年代末對(duì)于70藝術(shù)興起的一次預(yù)演，70后藝術(shù)強(qiáng)調(diào)一種寓言化的表現(xiàn)方式，沒有現(xiàn)實(shí)背景，盡管有寫實(shí)的形象，但這是被用來虛構(gòu)一個(gè)更為內(nèi)心化的形象。 70后繪畫的出場(chǎng)之始就備受關(guān)注，這主要在于70后繪畫強(qiáng)調(diào)自我內(nèi)心的體驗(yàn)性，在圖像上與當(dāng)時(shí)盛行的符號(hào)化和版畫性特征的繪畫風(fēng)格產(chǎn)生了區(qū)別。在“青春殘酷繪畫”展覽中，趙能智的繪畫也許不算是最突出的，他的畫面沒有特別外觀的青春形象表現(xiàn)，也沒有更敘事的圖像情節(jié)。趙能智所表現(xiàn)的臉是根據(jù)自己的臉改造的，幾乎只有一張臉充斥著整個(gè)畫面，有時(shí)候膨脹得使局部的臉出了畫面。趙能智的形象元素實(shí)際上很單純，一張臉放大到占據(jù)了整個(gè)畫面，表現(xiàn)了一個(gè)詩意的表情。 除了這個(gè)表情，實(shí)際上再?zèng)]有別的所要表達(dá)的了。由于畫面臉部的腫脹和皮膚表層起伏的傷害感，使得這張臉顯得極其丑陋，但卻體現(xiàn)出一種內(nèi)心狀態(tài)的復(fù)雜性。畫面上的青年男子的全部豐富的內(nèi)心表情，在于他的眼神似乎同時(shí)具有幾種掙扎的自我狀況，比如他的憂郁、茫然、恐懼、不安、狐疑、憤恨和疲憊。趙能智早期對(duì)于自我狀況的刻畫，具有一種青春的感傷主義的圖像特征。他描繪了一種幾乎難忍的難言的一層層襲來的痛苦，但是仍然穿透出一種出自痛苦深處的感傷主義詩意。 圖像的詩意感，是趙能智的繪畫最突出的圖像核心，在70后繪畫中，幾乎很少有人能具有他那樣的圖像詩意和穿透心靈的形象力量。在九十年代末以后的數(shù)年中，趙能智的繪畫幾乎都保持了一種灰色調(diào)和自我病態(tài)的圖像風(fēng)格，灰色的表現(xiàn)力和自我的殘酷狀況是一種詩意的現(xiàn)代基調(diào)，在形象上丑陋和痛苦，但依然使這一系列臉的表象讓人記憶深刻，具有一種混雜著痛苦而又詩意的穿透力。 趙能智的圖像在單一的走向上，也許在70后繪畫的早期都不算走得極致。他的形象的自我狀態(tài)具有一些青春的感傷特征，但又不是完全的青春成長(zhǎng)的狀態(tài)，很大程度還混合著人性的普遍特征的表現(xiàn)。他的圖像也不僅是一種青春的成長(zhǎng)形象，還滲透著一種圖像的詩意化的語言實(shí)踐。 在早期的灰臉系列，趙能智真正找到了一種屬于自己的語言風(fēng)格，以及圖像所表現(xiàn)的自我狀態(tài)。在圖像和自我狀態(tài)之間，灰臉圖像由于自我狀況的形式描繪，實(shí)際上是一種自我圖像的形式。他的肖像按照內(nèi)心狀況的特征變形，形成一個(gè)內(nèi)心的肖像，灰臉系列形成了一種明確的圖像語言，但自我狀況在這個(gè)灰臉中卻尚處于一種不確定性。 在灰臉系列創(chuàng)作持續(xù)的五年，越來越多的男子以及他們不同的病態(tài)但詩意的臉進(jìn)入灰調(diào)的畫面中。腫脹的病態(tài)的眼神茫然但詩意的臉已經(jīng)完成了形象模式，對(duì)于青春成長(zhǎng)和人性存在的描繪促成了這一圖像形式的確立。在這一點(diǎn)上，趙能智走出了一條自己的語言道路。1990年代當(dāng)代繪畫的一個(gè)主要的圖像方式都是使用現(xiàn)成的形象進(jìn)行符號(hào)化的改造，而趙能智則一直力圖尋求內(nèi)心特征在圖像上的表征化，圖像的形象反映內(nèi)心的一個(gè)寓言特征，它只能從內(nèi)心體驗(yàn)出發(fā)，很少能在現(xiàn)實(shí)中找到形式變形的現(xiàn)成形象。 趙能智的畫面形象每年都在進(jìn)行微妙的變化，并且這種變化在產(chǎn)生一種更為深入和內(nèi)在的力量。在漂亮和幾乎病態(tài)的臉體形成后，他對(duì)臉的表情敘述所針對(duì)的內(nèi)在狀態(tài)不斷進(jìn)行著一種純化，感傷主義和青春成長(zhǎng)的成分逐漸淡出，人性的病態(tài)和靈魂的掙扎越來越被強(qiáng)化至一種普遍意義的表達(dá)。 在早期的灰臉系列，趙能智的畫面還只是實(shí)踐圖像語言所能達(dá)到的詩意呈現(xiàn)，而在之后的紅臉女人系列，則開始表現(xiàn)病態(tài)和掙扎的意義。紅臉系列使趙能智的畫面發(fā)生顯著的變化，灰黑的背景，金黃或者銀灰的頭發(fā)，整個(gè)畫面像是被迎面而來的強(qiáng)烈得幾乎癲狂的濃重的紅色調(diào)所籠罩?；夷樝盗惺且环N陰沉而感傷的色調(diào)，紅臉系列則是一種濃重的更接近真實(shí)的病態(tài)感。趙能智的所有色調(diào)幾乎都是極其主觀化的，但有意思的是，那些男性的臉幾乎都放入陰沉的灰色調(diào)，而女性的臉則都被賦予濃重激情的紅色調(diào)。 女人的紅臉，她們的形象幾乎已經(jīng)沒有了詩意化的調(diào)子。在灰色系列中的那些男人，他們的痛苦似乎是被一種詩意的目光所看，那些女人們，則被一陣?yán)淇岬哪抗馑笥?。紅臉系列試圖拋棄圖像詩意化的調(diào)子，以殘酷的真實(shí)面目，使畫面充斥著病態(tài)得絢爛的色調(diào)。每個(gè)人都被置于一種殘酷的真實(shí)狀態(tài)，圖像語言顯而易見在進(jìn)行一種反詩意的處理，女人們面目丑陋，表情猙獰，像是著了魔一樣，在人性和魔性之間被撕扯得悲喜交集，有的嚎啕，有的癡笑，有的臨近神經(jīng)崩潰，她們的形象處于一種真實(shí)的病態(tài)，并且病態(tài)至一種癲狂失控的境地。 對(duì)于表情的病態(tài)表現(xiàn)，除了自我深陷其中的魔性狀態(tài)趨于更細(xì)節(jié)化，在殘酷的自我狀態(tài)上，紅臉系列并未超過灰臉的表現(xiàn)力。但在主觀色彩上，紅臉形象開始走向一種更極端的色調(diào)?；疑{(diào)實(shí)際上使痛苦變得詩意化，使痛苦在美學(xué)上獲得自我轉(zhuǎn)化；紅色調(diào)則相反強(qiáng)化了一種痛苦感，并伴隨著一種躁動(dòng)和掙扎的內(nèi)在張力，畫面似乎并不在意是否轉(zhuǎn)化活美化了痛苦，而是要呈現(xiàn)一種深深的內(nèi)在分裂和沖突，并為此飽受煎熬的人性真實(shí)，似乎對(duì)這種真實(shí)本身的殘酷觀看就具有一種意義。 如果說灰臉呈現(xiàn)的內(nèi)心還是處于一種迷離和渾濁的不確定狀態(tài)，而紅臉?biāo)尸F(xiàn)的表情則是走向一種極端的強(qiáng)烈的人性狀態(tài)。那些女人都不漂亮，她們仿佛在講述內(nèi)心所遭遇的人性掙扎是如何類似于面對(duì)這種丑陋所產(chǎn)生的自我震蕩。在早期灰臉的男人形象，似乎具有一種形象的自傳成分。在這些關(guān)于女人的寓言形象中，她們實(shí)際上并不是關(guān)于病態(tài)的女人，而是關(guān)于所有病態(tài)的人和他們的人性掙扎。 趙能智在紅臉系列完成了一個(gè)形象的轉(zhuǎn)化，從形象的自傳性過渡到超越性別和自我的普遍特征，但這主要在于一種人性及其人性掙扎的表達(dá)，這個(gè)系列的語言意義在于圖像對(duì)人性深處真實(shí)性的殘酷揭示。趙能智在之后的“幻影”系列，則試圖超越對(duì)人性的表達(dá)，試圖進(jìn)入到一種對(duì)人的核心揭示，即對(duì)人的靈魂深處關(guān)于惡和消極一面的呈現(xiàn)，比如恨、敵視和冷漠。在幻影系列中，紅色調(diào)作為一種真實(shí)的主觀痛苦的情感強(qiáng)度的象征色仍然保留，但臉部和情緒狀態(tài)又恢復(fù)了早期灰色調(diào)的風(fēng)格，臉部形態(tài)重新粗筆化，淡化現(xiàn)實(shí)性，使其更具有一種暗示靈魂的寓言特征。情感狀態(tài)的表現(xiàn)也被淡化，而是轉(zhuǎn)向一種對(duì)靈魂態(tài)度的表現(xiàn)，盡管沒有強(qiáng)烈的感情狀態(tài)，但呈現(xiàn)出人的意識(shí)和意志力對(duì)峙的緊張狀態(tài)。 從痛苦的詩意化、病態(tài)的真實(shí)呈現(xiàn)，一直到靈魂的形象再現(xiàn)，趙能智的繪畫在不斷走向一種對(duì)人的深刻揭示，以及對(duì)繪畫圖像的語言創(chuàng)造。在自我和圖像的表達(dá)上，他的圖像一開始模仿了自我，爾后自我在這個(gè)圖像上，開始尋求自我真實(shí)，以至靈魂的形象逐漸顯露，趙能智的畫面開始出現(xiàn)拯救的可能和意義。 2007年5月11日寫于望京

Zhao Nengzhi: Watch the unbearable faces By Zhu Qi Watching paintings by Zhao Nengzhi, is in fact a process of watching faces your internal response unbearable to see. All those faces describe the grow stage of his adolescence. Through them, Zhao shows the struggle of mind and human nature. Paintings of faces, therefore, become a way of salvation, and the portraits do not have any characteristics of the times, but a detailed and elaborate narrative of the soul’s struggling. Since the end of 1990s, almost all the paintings are about painful faces. They are grey, distended faces, with melancholy, weird and horrid eyes. Sometimes, the faces seem to watch something; moreover, they just look through the mirror to see the cruel face of their own. Zhao found his own way of expression in the late 1990s. He put all his attention to human’s faces, and instead of portrait of a real figure, what he cared about is a spiritual symbol—an inner face. The faces are unfamiliar with the real ones, like being soaked in the water for a long time, hence human nature and the soul seems to suffer a great distortion, and in this way, the artist obtained a penetrating sense of pain. The vacant-looking eyes are always very complex: they seem to watch other people, while at the same time seeing themselves from the mirror image. Zhao could paint the faces in a stereotyped character; however, he did not follow the trend of using symbolic forms or Chinese identity. Instead, his painting dug out the spiritual part of human’s faces. His early paintings, which exhibited on the “Cruel Adolescence Paintings”, were about youth growing up. That exhibition can be regarded as a preview of the Post-70s Art in the late 1990s, for its emphasis on an allegory way of expression. Without a realistic background, though some of those paintings had real figures, all was used for creating a much inner image of heart. As soon as the Post-70s Art came out, it received widespread attentions. Because of its emphasis on one’s inner experience, it had sharp contrasts with the prevalent style of symbolic and print like character. Among the exhibits of “Cruel Adolescence Paintings”, Zhao’s painting may not be the most striking one. The absence of particular adolescence image and narrative storylines made his paintings just a remold of his own face. The whole painting is shot through with a single face, sometimes, the face are so expanded that they even surpass the picture frame. The elements of his works are very simple, with every face showing a poetic expression. Besides this expression, there are no more things to convey in fact. The painfulness caused by turgid skin, made the face extremely ugly, but it also showed a complicated stated of mind. From the young man’s eyes, expressions such as melancholy, weirdness, horror, anxiety, doubt, anger and weary are clearly conveyed. The focus on his own experience, imparted Zhao’s early paintings a sense of adolescence sentimentalism, that is, unbearable painfulness with poetic sentimentalism. This poetic sentimentalism is the prominent feature of Zhao’s painting. Among the Post-70s Art, few people’s work could have the same power as his. For a long time after the 1990s, Zhao maintained a style of grey tone and sickly appearance, which is the keynote of modern paintings. Together with ugly and painful images, the face series left people a deep impression, a mixture of painfulness and poetic penetration. Zhao did not walk very far along the single direction. His paintings are not only about adolescence, but also about prevalent experience shared by every human being. And in addition to creating the image of adolescence growing up, he also keeps experimenting the language of art. Since his early stage of the grey face series, Zhao have found a language of his own, by which his image showed his state of mind. His portrait changed as his mind changed, and eventually it became portrait of his inner heart. Though the gray faces themselves are clear and definite image series, the state of mind is changeable as time goes. During the five years of working on the gray faces series, more and more men’s faces appeared on the canvas, with different kinds of sickly appearance. These images are particular and unique in exploring the existence of human nature, in that case, Zhao finally had a style of his own. In 1990s, the main feature of the contemporary art is remolding the already existed image with symbolic meaning. Zhao, however, just walked on his way. His paintings reflected an allegorical form of heart, which more came from his experience rather than reality. Each year, there are subtle changes in Zhao’s painting, and these changes are producing a kind of deep and inner power. Behind the images of sick faces, Zhao kept trying to purify the state of mind presented by expressions. As a result, sentimentalism and adolescence growing up themes gradually faded away, while human nature’s sickness and struggle of the soul were strengthened to a prevalent height. In his early gray faces series, Zhao’s practice only dealt with the poetic feelings of painting. From the red face women series, he began to put more attentions on the meaning of sickness and struggling themselves. This series marked a tremendous change in his painting. The gray black background, and golden or silver gray hair, are all immersed in a strong crazy color of red. If the gray series is regarded as dark and sentimental tones, the red series is almost the true sickness. Zhao used colors subjectively, and what’s interesting, he painted all the men’s faces in dark gray, while almost all the women faces were painted in enthusiastic red. Women’s red faces are no longer in the poetic tones. Comparing with the gray face men, whose panic are watched by a poetic eye, the only thing can be seen in these women is cruelty. The artist abandoned the poetic tone, instead, reproducing the cruel reality with colorful sickness. The ugly faces, crazy expressions, almost seemed to be possessed, and the images are torn by human nature and evil spirit. Among them, some cries, some laughs, some are at the edge of mental collapse. Their crazy is a real, a sick state that hard to control. Besides the detail description of human’s deep involvement in evil spirit, the presence of sickly appearance in the red series is not as cruel as the gray faces series. Through subjective approach, the red face image went to another extreme tone. The gray tone made the whole picture poetic, transforming painfulness into aesthetic beauty; while the red color on the contrary strengthened the panic feelings, along with some inner tensions of struggling and restless. The focus of painting is not poetic beauty any more, but deep rooted conflict and division, and human nature that suffered all kinds of torments. It seems that, watching the cruel reality itself is meaningful. If the gray face is still about uncertain state of blurred and turbid mind, the red face presented goes to an extremely strong state of human nature. Women in his paintings are not beautiful at all, and they seem to narrate the struggle of human nature by themselves such as their confronting to the ugly faces. The early gray face men are a kind of autobiography, these women images, however, are not only sick women but every human being’s struggle. That is to say, Zhao’s red face series marked his change from autobiography to the concerning of prevalent destiny of human beings, though it was still about human nature and the struggle, revealing the cruelness of humanity. In his then following series of “Phantom”, Zhao tried to surpass the express of human nature and began to reveal the essence of life. Paintings of this series focused on the evil and negative side of human spirit, such as hate, hostility and indifferent, with red color kept as a symbol of real panic suffered by artist, and early gray style of describing the face and expression. Bold lines are used to describe the shape of face, and the sense of reality is diluted, which emphasize an allegorical feature. Emotional state also becomes less important, giving prominence to the spiritual attitude. Though without strong emotional rise and fall, this series highlighted the tension of conflicts of human’s spirit and willpower. From poetic painfulness, realistic description of sickness, to representation of the soul itself, Zhao keeps to experiment the language of art and reveal the deep side of human beings in his paintings. His image initially was an imitation of himself, but later on, he surpassed this stage and searched for the true self. As a result, images of the soul gradually appear. From that time on, Zhao’s painting began to have possibility and meaning of salvation. May 11, 2007, in Wangjing Translation: Yang Fangfei