Zhang Hui: Beijing Wawa

Zhang Hui was born in 1969 in Yinchuan. She graduated from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, and currently lives and works in Beijing. Zhang Hui presents work from her recent series of Beijing girls. In these paintings, Zhang has created her own unique characters, which she calls √¢‚Ǩ≈ìBeij... Read more

Zhang Hui was born in 1969 in Yinchuan. She graduated from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, and currently lives and works in Beijing.

Zhang Hui presents work from her recent series of Beijing girls. In these paintings, Zhang has created her own unique characters, which she calls “Beijing Wawa” or “Beijing Dolls.” They signify clichéd young girls searching for identity within a society driven by the commodification of culture. Their identity ceases to be personalized and they are reduced to mere reflections of impossible ideals. Jaded or indifferent gazes are plastered on their faces while their bodies are young and over-sexualized. The violence of this transformation is further made apparent with scars or props such as guns, swords, and eye patches. People often describe childhoods lost under Mao, but Zhang Hui is looking at a new loss of innocence stolen not by political control, but rather by new policies fueled by money and commercialization.