37-meter canvas painted using ash

The Hermitage is opening an exhibition of one of the most famous contemporary Chinese artists, Zhang Huang. “In the Ashes of History” is the name of the exposition, which presents over 30 works by the artist.

The display, housed in the state rooms of the Neva Enfilade of the Winter Palace, contains more than 30 large-scale works, many of which the artist created especially for this exhibition under the impression of a visit to Saint Petersburg. They come together to form several series executed in different techniques. Of particular interest are the works in the series «Love», which the artist produced under conditions of isolation, as a concentrated expression of his personal experience of the situation in China and the world, a means of preserving the memory of the victims of the pandemic.

Anastasia Velyako, Junior Researcher, Department of Contemporary Art, State Hermitage:

“This is the story of a pregnant woman who, unfortunately, died a day before the Chinese government decided to sponsor treatment for everyone who fell ill with the coronavirus. A sad story, the artist expressed it in this way. That is, in fact, the image of either a fruit or a beating heart is read here. “

Only in China is this possible – a thousand members of the Communist Party gather to take a common photo, and half a century later there is an artist who will buy it at a flea market and will embody it on a 37-meter canvas for 5 years using ash.

Dmitriy (exhibition guide)
“Most of the works on display in this room are literally created from the ashes. The fact is that in Buddhist temples it is customary to burn incense and make wishes. Zhang Huan began to collect the ashes and sort them by color. There are 24 different tones here. “

Mikhail Piotrovsky (Hermitage director) gave a speech at the exhibition opening:
“This is a remarkable exhibition. It combines within it prose and mysticism. The prose of an outstanding artist, one of the foremost Chinese artists of the present day, who is able to draw superbly because he mastered the Chinese and Russian Soviet school of drawing. An artist who is a master of performances that have caused a stir across America, but at the same time an artist who has come to mysticism: his graphic art is produced using ashes that he collects from shrines and Buddhist temples.

One of the main themes of his work is the difficult period of relations between the two communist parties. The USSR and China accused each other of violating the goals of the communist movement. And the artist in his own way tries to say: “We are so different and so similar.” Even the order of the paintings on display is not accidental.

The exhibition was conceived specially for the Hermitage and a considerable portion of the pieces were made specially for the Hermitage. Hermitage paintings are reproduced in part in the prosaic form of cuttings from photographs as well as in the mystic form of carvings on old Chinese doors. Here there are Hermitage pictures and pictures connected with the Hermitage.

Mikhail Piotrovsky (Hermitage director)
«I don’t think that the artist was aware that a painting that inspired him – The Last Day of Pompeii – used to be located in the Hermitage.»

The Pearl Lam Galleries (New York) participated in the events marking the opening of the exhibition. The artist himself was unable to be present at the opening of his personal exhibition in Russia. In a video address, he thanked the Hermitage administration, the curators and all those who have worked tirelessly on the creation and implementation of this ambitious exhibition project.