Zheng Haozhong is a painter, musician, and writer. His figurative paintings often conflate his various artistic practices, depicting friends, acquaintances, and himself in his studio, capturing their expressions and psyches. These works carry a rhythmic quality with expressive brushstrokes that are freestyle and not confined within a rigid parameter, mirroring the music he plays. His characteristic use of negative space conjures the imagery of “liubai” (leave blank) in Chinese ink paintings, bringing out a linearity which delineates the features of his subjects.
In 2014, Zheng’s painting QIUCHEN was awarded the First Prize for the John Moores Painting Prize China and was exhibited at museums internationally including the National Museums Liverpool (Liverpool, 2014) and 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum (now Minsheng Art Museum) (Shanghai, 2016). Zheng’s solo exhibitions took place in Aranya Art Center North (Beidaihe, 2024), Blindspot Gallery (Hong Kong, 2023), KWM artcenter (Beijing, 2018) and Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (now esea contemporary) (Manchester, 2016). Zheng was previously artist-in-residence at Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (2016) and Gwangju Museum of Art (2015).
Zheng is identified by his pseudonym “Li Cha” in his online publications. He is also part of the band Dolphy Kick Bebop, bAdBLUEbirdz, and Free Music Collective of Shanghai.
Zheng currently lives and works in Shanghai, China
