“My past experience during the Cultural Revolution in China, a time of social unrest, widespread propaganda, violence, and expected obedience to authority, has informed the underlying mood of my paintings…”

-Furong Zhang

Furong Zhang was born in Shanghai, China amid the Cultural Revolution.  In 1989, Furong relocated to the United States. Alienation quickly disenchanted the myth of the American Dream yet he considers immigrating as a rebirth.

The paintings are dreamlike and frenetic, he juxtaposes symbols of nature and industrialization, setting his scenes in a decaying utopia. His characters, some wearing white masks, symbolic of distrust, reflects the different roles people Splay in society. In Red Stage, a bejeweled character stands on top of a dilapidated subway car. In Behind the Scenes, an attendant prepares the performer, sitting in a burning boat flocked by owls and peacocks. His selectively luminous paintings pull back the curtain on immigrants’ role on the world’s stage.

Furong Zhang lives and works in State College, PA. His work has been exhibited at the Beijing National Fine Art Museum, Shanghai Fine Art Museum, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum. He recently completed a residency at Fountainhead in Miami, FL.