4 Profile


The Tower of Babel, Conflict of Law, 2010, photography, 180 x 240 cm, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Oriane GmbH, Munich


far – from interactive video to photography to painting – reflect how I look down on mankind, despising its evolution. Today, working in painting, where I am not relying on pre-existing images from the internet, I feel liberated and free to express myself more than in any other medium.


AAN: That makes your work more personal. Do you agree? DZ: Absolutely. I do not paint for an audience or for the history of contemporary art. I paint for myself. My work reflects my views, which are very critical of mankind and the world. Although highly personal, my work is also based on history, on world events, and mankind’s responsibility. I followed the same pattern in the Tower of Babel: the series reflected how I saw the world and its decadence at a certain point in time, between 2008 and 2015. It is now time to move on, and my recent paintings capture this new constellation of the world as it is experienced today.


AAN: Did you exhaust the subject in the Tower of Babel? DZ: Yes. Tere will never be more than these 14 pieces. Because of health reasons, I reverted to painting almost by accident, reconnecting with the discipline that initially formed the foundation of my practice. I feel that I am at that stage of my career where I can explore and experiment, regardless of what people think and without having to be accountable to anyone.


AAN: Do you feel that the state of the world is worse than it used to be? DZ: I cannot say it is better or worse, but, strikingly, each period is marked by a specific phenomenon. While I completed the Tower of Babel series, we were driven by globalisation and growth, with the internet being one of its most emblematic phenomena. I looked at this world by creating 14 photographs, addressing various topics in each image. Today, the world has changed, as globalisation is no longer the main topic – it has been replaced by a binary world – totalitarian on one side and democratic on the other. However, there is always a certain continuity in this life, as previous ‘walls’ or wars


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The Tower of Babel, Old Europe, 2010, photography, 180 x 240 cm, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Oriane GmbH, Munich


have been replaced by new ones. I am convinced that in the future, these present manifestations will again be replaced. We no longer have the Berlin Wall, but we have a wall between Palestine and Israel. What will be next? Tis uncertainty leads me to being neither particularly optimistic nor pessimistic.


AAN: It seems you deliberately reflect these themes in your titles. DZ: Absolutely. My titles echo the subject matter, a critique of the world, and more specifically mankind. Men think of themselves as heroes, but several circumstances point to the absurdity of their behaviour, with sometimes global and lasting consequences.


AAN: At one point, you had two studios: one in Shanghai and one in Paris. Do you still do this? DZ: Following Covid, I shut down the studio in Shanghai. As I indicated earlier, we are now in a different world, and for me as an artist, China is taking a turn that challenges the creative process. Te country is no longer how it was 20 years ago: back then, there was an energy that encouraged creation, which is why I had a studio there. We enjoyed a certain freedom, especially between 2000 and 2008, which has now completely disappeared. Although there are currently


many galleries and private museums in China, it has become impossible to exhibit works that, in the broadest sense, deal with the human condition, which is precisely the category into which my work falls. Te only pieces that can presently be shown are abstract. Strangely enough, in China, we now find ourselves in the opposite situation from the Cold War: during the Communist era, Realist art was encouraged and praised, being the only language that was tolerated, whereas Expressionism, which stood for freedom, was banned. Today, the circumstances have changed, and abstraction is the safest language because, due to the nature of the work, it does not deal with politics or ideology. On the contrary, realist pieces can prove tricky and problematic. However, even though abstraction is the safest means of expression,


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I feel that the downside of that evolution is that in today’s China, it has reached a certain uniformity, resembling wallpaper; its subject matter tends to shy away from ideology and politics, and more broadly, the human condition or anything that could lead to subjective interpretations. Tis explains why museums mainly exhibit abstract art and why, as of today, my work, which openly presents an unflattering and chaotic view of the world, cannot be shown in China.


AAN: This is a sad development. In the 1990s and early 2000s, China’s contemporary artists were bold, creative, and gaining global recognition. Today, we mainly see artists from China working in video


The Tower of Babel, The Accident, 2010, photography, 180 x 240 cm, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Oriane GmbH, Munich


or AI, with very few painters. How do you see it? DZ: It is all related to the present situation. Te few very talented painters in China are working in abstraction, or in traditional calligraphy, where an artist cannot go wrong. It can easily be sold and pleases everybody. However, to me, that is not the art we used to have two decades ago. In addition, we also need to keep in mind, that as of today, China’s most interesting painters are all based abroad. I cannot express in words how sad


My work openly presents an


unflattering and chaotic view of the world


I am about this development; there was such an energy, and we had high hopes. As artists, we had a free space in which to work. Of course, there were a few sensitive topics we did not touch, but overall, nothing interfered with our creative process. Tat has all changed, and today, artists are facing censorship, even going so far as to self-censor their art. Twenty or 30 years ago, I felt very fortunate to be able to keep two studios, but in the current situation, I am glad to be in France, as in China, artists can no longer be daring; they are moving towards the decorative, in my opinion, deliberately avoiding a truly personal language.


AAN: In China, you used to teach. Do you teach in France? DZ: No, and I have no plans to. Above all, I want to be completely free and not work for anyone else. With painting, I am in my own world, and I feel I am just at the beginning of exploring and discovering new aspects of my practice. My studio is filled with empty canvases, as I want to paint everything I envision in my mind. I want to take my compositions further, making them more elaborate. I still have countless projects and stories to tell.


Tournesol du jour, 2024, 140 x 210 cm, oil on canvas, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Oriane GmbH, Munich


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AAN: It seems you have found a way to balance many different aspects, combining your personal view of the world together with aesthetic qualities. DZ: Tis is a challenge, as a painting should also fulfil certain aesthetic qualities. In my present work, I show my discontent with the state of the world, and the way humans are behaving. I want to convey my message while presenting paintings that are still aesthetically pleasing.


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AAN: Earlier, you referred to AI regarding your approach to painting. Can you be more specific? DZ: I wanted to change the way I paint, avoiding subconsciously following the constraints and rules from my earlier art training in China. I do not want to experience any limitations, and I am now painting in a more spontaneous way, because AI has changed my state of mind. My dialogue with AI helps me to be less rigid, creating works that have nothing to do with the realist paintings I knew in China. Now, I can capture the world as I see it, narrating a story of mythology, where one also comes across surreal elements and creatures. AI does not help me in terms of composition or subject matter, it is a transitional tool that enables me to go beyond certain principles and break the mould. In that sense, I was able to create a mythology driven by the fantastic and the surreal. I therefore not only felt liberated in terms of subject matter but also within my colour palette. It is a different state of mind, one that my rigorous art education previously prevented me from accessing. On my canvases, I want to bring out the chaotic state of the world, juxtaposing unlikely or extraordinary figures and shapes. I therefore rely on my dialogue with AI, which, as it turns out, provides me with the most unpredictable answers, and leads me to make unexpected associations to transpose onto the canvas, thus reflecting our chaotic world. I am excited that I found a tool to go beyond the logic of rigid parameters to make this transition.


AAN: Where did the idea to use AI come from? DZ: A few years ago, as everyone began talking about AI, I decided to investigate it. Even though there were numerous glitches back then, I found these glitches to be exactly AI’s most interesting attribute, as the results are completely unpredictable. AI serves as the perfect tool to overcome a certain rigidity in my practice that had been instilled during my art school years. Strict principles and logic have been replaced by imagination, the surreal, and the fantastic. In my opinion, it is an unparalleled way to approach and look at the world in which we live.


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