Zhang Dali
Born 1963, Harbin; lives in Beijing
Demolition: Forbidden City, Beijing, 1998, 1998
From the series Dialogue with Demolition
Chromogenic print, 35 3/8 x 23 3/4 in.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: Promised gift of an anonymous donor
© Zhang Dali
Description
Zhang Dali spray-paints silhouettes of his head on walls of half-demolished traditional houses in Beijing and hires workers to chip away the bricks within the silhouette so that people can look through the hole at urban architecture-in a sense, “reading his thoughts” regarding the replacement of the old with the new. The holes in the walls frame ancient architecture or, more frequently, modern glass and steel towers, whose presence the artist feels comes at great cost to the Chinese sense of identity
Community Response by Ping Whittaker
“Through a ‘broken’ human face, the photo captures a sense of shock, loss, resentment, and finally, a public cry. When authentic beauty is lost, the essence of the original object or a human being is sabotaged.”