This publication documents the exhibition of work by Zeng Fanzhi at Hauser & Wirth in Los Angeles in early 2023.

The book is designed to show full works along with 1:1 details to give readers an in-depth glimpse into Zeng’s command of his medium and his wet-on-wet technique, emphasizing the materiality of his painting and affording insights into his colourful, labyrinthine brushwork.

The scholarly essays look at the artist’s recent work from various perspectives: Carter Ratcliff discusses it in relation to the types of abstraction predominant in Western art history, while Stephen Little focuses on the influence of Chinese art and philosophy on Zeng’s oeuvre and approach. Barbara Pollack situates his work in relation to its contemporary Chinese precedents and posits that it can best be understood as operating beyond the binary of East and West.

English and Chinese text.

Published with Hauser & Wirth, on occasion of the exhibition ‘Zeng Fanzhi’, 2 Feb – 30 Apr 2023, Hauser & Wirth, Downtown Los Angeles.

Zeng Fanzhi, born 1964 in Wuhan, China, lives and works in Beijing.