ZHANG DALI     张大力

 

1963 born in Harbin, China

 

Zhang Dali studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Beijing, graduating in 1987. His work reflects the rapidly shifting urban landscape of China. The artist first became interested in engaging the architectural restructuring of Beijing in the late '80s and his urban interventions, which included 'tagging' areas of the city with graffiti or carving his profile into the walls of condemned buildings, were primarily documented by photographs. More recently, Zhang has taken on the depiction of migrant workers as his subject, rendering them in grisaille portraits using his moniker "AK-47" as a mark making device. This new nomadic class within Chinese society is helping to pave the way to a new China while they themselves remain on fringes of society. Zhang brings humanity to their plight while also questioning the high price of modernization.