Zheng Haozhong is a painter, musician, and writer, his paintings often conflating his various artistic practices. His figurative paintings, depicting friends, acquaintances, and himself in his studio, capture the gestures, expressions, and psyches of his sitters. His paintings 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 recent works, the prominence of window frames accentuates the domesticity of his paintings, capturing the isolation experienced by individuals during lockdown and covid restrictions. Zheng delves into an introspective reflection on interpersonal connections, subtly hinting towards the notion of solitary.
Zheng graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2008. In 2014, Zheng’s painting QIUCHEN was awarded the Grand Prize for the John Moores Painting Prize China and was exhibited at museums internationally including the National Museums Liverpool (Liverpool, 2015), Minsheng Museum (Shanghai, 2016), and later exhibited in Beijing and Macau. Zheng has held solo exhibitions in BANK (Shanghai, 2023), KWM Art Center (Beijing, 2018) and esea contemporary (Manchester, 2016) where he also had an artist residence. Zheng was previously artist-in-resident at Kwangju Museum of Art. His works are in the collection of White Rabbit Gallery, DSL Foundation and the Moegling Foundation.
Zheng is identified by his pseudonym “Li Cha” in his online publications. He is also part of the band Dolphy Kick Bebop which joined the Shanghai Free Art Big Band in 2023.
Zheng currently lives and works in Shanghai.
