Zhang Xiaogang, Bloodline - Big Family No. 9, 1996, oil on canvas, 150 x 190 cm © Zhang Xiaogang
Annual Artist’s Lecture: Zhang Xiaogang
26th Mar 2026
11am – 12:30pm
Asia Art Archive
11/F Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Supported by：拾壹基金會 (Octone Foundation @octone.foundation)
A breakfast reception will be held at the library from 10 to 11am. The lecture will begin at 11am. The event is free and open to the public.
Asia Art Archive is honoured to host Zhang Xiaogang as the distinguished speaker for AAA’s Annual Artist’s Lecture. AAA began working with Zhang in 2007 to digitise his archive, and the organization collaborate with him again this year on a two-chapter exhibition celebrating AAA’s 25th anniversary. In this lecture, Zhang reflects on his archive and its relationship to his personal history.
About the artist:
Born in 1958 in Kunming, China, Zhang Xiaogang is widely known for his association with the 85’ New Wave, an avant‑garde movement that radically reinvented Chinese art history, which had previously been dominated by Socialist Realism. Artists of this period were strongly influenced by the Western expressionistic approaches to representation, a sensibility that also shaped Zhang’s oeuvre. The narrative power of his figurative forms is deeply rooted in his individual experiences, while simultaneously juxtaposed with the collective memory.
Zhang’s works have been exhibited in major museums and institutions such as the National Art Museum of China (Beijing); the São Paulo Biennial (1994); the Venice Biennale (1995); the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (Brisbane, 1996); the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (New York); the Gwangju Biennale (2000); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York); M+ (Hong Kong). His works are in the collections of major institutions and individuals worldwide.
Moderator: Anthony Yung, Asia Art Archive