Chen Zhen: a free monographic exhibition at Galleria Continua in Paris, our photos

Galleria Continua presents "Double exil", the first monographic exhibition by Chen Zhen. On view from September 29, 2023 to January 6, 2024 at the renowned contemporary art gallery's Paris space, this free exhibition features a wide selection of works by this great Franco-Chinese artist, who died in 2000.

This autumn and winter, discover the major works created by artist Chen Zhen in " Double Exile " . On view from September 29, 2023 to January 6, 2024 at Galleria Continua in Paris, this first monographic exhibition by Chen Zhen plunges us into the fascinating and captivating universe of this unmissable Franco-Chinese artist, who has made Paris his adopted home.

Over a three-month period, the " Double exil " installation takes us on a truly intimate journey to discover the major themes that occupied the artist's life, from his beginnings to his death in 2000. Born in 1995 in Shanghai, it was at the age of 25 that his life was turned upside down, when doctors diagnosed him with the incurable disease hemolytic anemia. From then on, his outlook changed, and the artist decided to emigrate to France in 1986, with a view to opening up to other cultures. With this new life far from his native country, his artistic production changed, moving from painting to works presented in the form of installations.

Six Roots Enfance|Garçon Childhood|Boy - 2000

For this major exhibition in Paris, Galleria Continua presents a range of works demonstrating the full extent of Chen Zhen's talent, including his abstract oil paintings, " Six Roots Enfance|Garçon Childhood|Boy ", an upturned boat topped with plastic soldiers, and " Meditation Chair ", a work made from chamber pots that becomes the source of individual and social therapeutic meditation.

Untitled 1997-2015

Meditation Chair - 1996

Not far away, Galleria Continua exhibits " Untitled " , created posthumously in 2015 on the basis of projects by the artist and composed of two twin boats. Each boat carries its own cargo: objects made in China for one, Western products for the other. Here, globalization and consumerism are clearly in evidence.

The most fascinating work, however, is the major installation " Purification Room " (2000), a domestic environment in which walls, floors, furniture and objects (television, shopping cart, ladder, shoes, etc.) are covered in clay. Through this monochromatic work, we are invited to meditate and question the nature that surrounds us and the contemporary society in which we live.

Purification Room - 2000