1993 Born in Dalian, Liaoning Province

2015 Graduated from Experimental Art Department of China Central Academy of Fine Arts with a bachelor’s degree

Currently studies at Experimental Art Department of China Central Academy of Fine Arts for a master’s degree

GROUP EXHIBITION

2018

2018 Art Nova 100, Guardian Art Center, Beijing, China

2017

Insights into Tradition and Beyond, EU Embassy, Beijing, China

Four Directions, Chambers Fine Gallery, Beijing, China

2016

One Possible World, Underground Gallery of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China

Nothing happened here, if Art Salon, Qingdao, Shandong, China

2016 Art Nova 100, Agricultural Exhibition Hall, Beijing, China

6666666, Cipa Gallery, Beijing, China

Like any ordinary Dalian local, Zhang Wenzhi has a very strong hometown complex. His interest in Dalian local histories is quite unusual however; he especially likes to collect and study local " Strange Tales," some of which are astounding and others of which are positively creepy. Dalian is bordered by the sea, so many of its stories are related to “sea” and "water." For example, according to legend, earthquakes are actually caused by the shaking of a catfish that carries the earth. The exhibited project is a specialized study by Zhang Wenzhi on the Russo-Japanese War in Dalian. The artist refers to the presentation of the ancient exotic Ark of Europe, integrating paintings, specimens, old documents and archaic objects. Together these tell a new version of the legend of the Russo-Japanese War. Many celebrated generals and soldiers from the war have inexplicably been turned into popular seafood in the Dalian Sea. Fishermen collect them and serve them at the table. Chewed and swallowed by gluttons, they are reincarnated as seafood again in the next life, and this reincarnation is repeated over and over, like some kind of rare death chamber descending to hell.
–Wu Jian’an (Associate professor of the experimental art department of Central Academy of Fine Arts)