Dawei Zhang is a figurative artist interested in people, their interior lives and how inner thoughts and feelings show on the outside, in bodies, faces, hands, skin.
BA in Fine Art, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing, China. 1987-1991
Originally from Chengdu in Sichuan Province, Dawei is the son of traditional Chinese artists and spent many hours as a child learning to paint using ink and wash. Feeling constrained by the traditions of family and culture, his practice evolved with the use of oil, pencil, watercolour and charcoal to study intimacy and the inner psyche from a modern perspective.
His work has been exhibited in China, UK, Germany, Italy and Hong Kong. He has also been the subject of several magazine articles including the MaLa Literary Journal (2010), featuring an interview with Dawei and his father on art across the generations.
Dawei has been shortlisted in competitions including the National Open Art Competition (2016, 2011), the East Sussex Open (2016), and the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize (2014, 2012), featuring in all final exhibitions.
He moved to Brighton in 2004 and is currently based at Phoenix Art Space.
Notable Exhibitions
Anima Mundi. Group Exhibition. Thienes, Italy. 2017
Contemporary Retrospective. Joint Exhibition. Gallery 40. Brighton, UK. 2016
The Nature of the Beast. Solo Exhibition. Atria Gallery. Chengdu, China. 2013
Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize. Selected for Final Exhibition. Mall Galleries. London, UK. 2012
Solo Exhibition. Yifine Gallery, 798 Art District. Beijing, China. 2010
Inside Out. Solo Exhibition of Recent Paintings. Kaffe Stugen. Chengdu, China. 2010
“Chinesen Sehen Hamburg”, Hamburger Kammerspiele. Hamburg, Germany. 2008
Abstract Portraits. Solo Exhibition. Art Scene China. Hong Kong. 2001
Chinese Artists Association 14th Annual Exhibition of New Works by Young Artists, China Fine Arts Exhibition Hall. Beijing, China. 2000