Twilight of The Gods: Solo Exhibition by Zhang Linhai

      Linda Gallery proudly presents Twilight of The Gods, a solo exhibition by Zhang Linhai. Zhang Linhai has always held an aesthetic voice that differed from his contemporaries in China. When consumer culture and cynical realism were in vogue, he depicted his memories in the mountains. Through earnest engagements with his childhood in the rural mountains during the 1960s, Zhang Linhai creates work that speaks to the collective importance of preserving truth. His search for truth and commitment to creating work from lived experiences led to his highly unique depictions of the human condition visible in his figures, which are rich with latent meaning and endless stories presented through subtitle gestures and imposing facial features.

     He teeters on abstraction, distorting the optical realities of a scene while preserving their legibility to create almost whimsical depictions of mountain life. Zhang Linhai’s childhood during the 1960s in China tucked away in the mountains, consisted of long days labouring from dawn till dusk. His memories populate his artwork via highly distinct visual motifs. His bodies portray bald heads representing lived realities as men who worked in the mountains often shaved their heads to conserve the scarce water supply. Often, figures are depicted in hordes or in haunting expansive landscapes that confront the confusing, familiar loneliness that comes from reflecting on communal memory.

      Despite the complex emotion these memories hold, he refuses to forget them, and while they are too difficult to speak of, he uses these experiences in his works. Their use cements the experience into our collective memory, allowing these moments to be historicized. Zhang Linhai’s practice is rooted in profound hope. As the poet Shi Zhi has said, “When the cobwebs mercilessly sealed my stove top, when the ashes of the smoke sighed the sorrow of poverty, I still stubbornly smoothed out the ashes of disappointment, and with beautiful snowflakes, I wrote: Believe in the Future”. Life, history and our existence on this earth would be meaningless if there were no future. The writing of memories will become a force that prevents history from regression. Memory is fragile; protecting it offers a roadmap through which brighter futures can be forged. In his practice, Zhang Linhai protects his memory, using it to achieve his childhood dream of departing from the mountains precisely because he believes in the future. He uses memory as a force through which he has created a highly successful career and preserved a fragile history for future generations.

Time:

1. 12 Jan - 29 Jan 2024 at Atrium, Paragon Shopping Centre, Singapore.
2. 12 Jan - 29 Jan 2024 at Linda Gallery, Paragon Shopping Centre level 4th, Singapore.
3. 24 Jan - 24 Mar 2024 at Linda Gallery, Kepple Road level 4th, Singapore.