The COVID-19 has guaranteed artists’ home life as we cannot go out on a casual basis. I usually enjoy staying in my studio. Being in the studio can allow me not only to paint but also to do anything related to painting. According to Mao Xuhui’s statement, it was just a day spent in the studio.
In the past few months, the news I saw every day was how many people died due to the virus, and such a collective terror spread quickly. U.S. politicians used this sentiment to attack the opposition parties, the stock market and even the entire economic situation was also significantly impacted and controlled. In these circumstances, what can an artist do? During the pandemic, it was rather clear for me on how to draw. When the problems of life were limited within life and death, everything suddenly becomes clear.
John Z Long
August 30, 2020
Los Angeles
250 X 180 cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2018
250 X 180 cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2018
120 X 120 cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2019
120 X 120 cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2019
120 X 120 cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2019
John Zhang Long is a Los Angeles-based artist. He has been a leading avant-garde art practitioner since the 1980s. His abstract series KuangMo has been well received internationally and now is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2018, his KuangMo series received the golden award in International Invitation Exhibition, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto.
Experimenting with lines and colours, John Zhang Long was fascinated by abstract concepts, visual arts and music. In 1985, he organised the New Concrete Image exhibition and subsequently played a significant role in forming contemporary Chinese art. The French art organisation SPADEM (Société de la Propriété Artistique et des Dessins et Modèles) invited him to join in 1990. His private solo show was sponsored by HP and Apple computer in 1991, one of the first few of the kind.
After settling in Los Angeles, John Zhang Long has been more engaging in contemporary society. Having been working in the film industry for a long time, he absorbed a lot of visual languages and successfully transformed into his unique abstract rendering.
In recent years, John Zhang Long sold his artwork and donated to charity, helping children who suffer from orofacial cleft. Meanwhile, he received great revelation in supporting people who are traumatised as he were in the past. John Zhang Long was resurrected by creating art and appreciating music.
Image and Text Courtesy of the Artist.
Edited by Sue and Emily/CAFA ART INFO
