Zhang Enli on A Traveller

In this new video, Zhang Enli discusses his exhibition, A Traveller (15 March—11 May 2024), which unveils a new series of gestural abstract portraits, marking the evolution of his oeuvre since 2019.

“My goal is not to distinguish between Eastern and Western traditions. I am more interested in finding their shared characteristics. I believe this could be a direction for us in the future.”

Zhang's distinctive style—fluid, spontaneous and gestural—draws on both Eastern and Western painterly traditions. The flowing lines are reminiscent of traditional Chinese brush painting, for example, whereas visible grid lines point to the Renaissance technique of ‘squaring up’. He is a master of colour and light, preferring to work in thin washes of paint and clear, crystalline colours with dark contrasts. Zhang's lightness of touch lends his oeuvre an ethereal, harmonious and deeply evocative quality.