ZHANG HUAN (1965 –). 张洹

Untitled,

Ink on paper,

119 x 80cm,

Executed in 2006.

This work relates to Zhang Huan’s donkey period. His 2004 work Window comprised of nine photographs taken of the artist crouched beside a donkey in often startling positions and in a state of undress. His 2005 work Donkey presents a taxidermy sculpture of a donkey mounting a model of the famous Jin Mao tower in Shanghai in what might be considered a romantic encounter. The work has been read as a complex allegory of Chinese ambition. This ink study, painted after the original work had been completed, demonstrates the potential of ink, through the duplicated forms in monochrome with shadows indicative of movement, to give a graphic voice to Zhang’s vision.