Born in 1963 in Harbin, Zhang Dali has a degree from the National School of Fine Arts in Beijing, where he was the first recognized graffiti-artist in the 90s. Multidiscipline artist, he always integrated photography in his artistic work, mostly related to changes in urban environment.
In Dialogue & Démolition, one of the most famous and iconoclast series in Chinese Contemporary Art, Zhang Dali, carved walls, threatened to be demolished, with his facial profile. That’s how he wanted to draw attention to massive destruction of buildings of the capital and to the evictions they cause. “These destructions will make future generations lose their cultural memory and they cannot be exchanged for money.”
Condemned to disappear together with the walls canvassing them, Zhang Dali’s work finds a second life in photography. The artist has been interrupted in his work so many times by the authorities that he questions democracy and citizenship in his country: “When a city decides to change, shouldn’t it allow its citizens to express their opinions?”
FESTIVAL
Photo Phnom Penh 2013
November 30th – December 31st, 2013
http://www.institutfrancais-cambodge.com
