Zhang
Dali, Demolition: World Financial Center, Beijing (1998).
Zhang Dali’s work traces the course of Beijing’s massive urban
transformation of the past decade. Identifying buildings that are scheduled
for demolition, he spray paints graffiti-style heads on their walls and
later uses a chisel to knock out a similarly shaped void. The photographs
that he makes of these scenes emphasize the dramatic contrast between
the vanishing and the emerging architecture of the Chinese capital.
credits
Chromogenic print
Courtesy of the artist and CourtYard Gallery, Beijing
In the past two decades, China’s urban life has been completely
transformed. A massive building program has created sprawling skyscraper
cities, and at the same time tens of thousands of city dwellers have been
displaced from the inner city to the outskirts. These conditions have
brought about a growing alienation between the city and its residents:
they no longer belong to each other. The works in this section both reflect
and respond to the new textures of China’s metropolitan culture.