Zhang Huan's Invisible Actions at Giampaolo Abbondio Gallery in Milan

The Chinese artist Zhang Huan (born 1965 in Anyang) explores the body as a bridge between inner spirit and the external world through a series of performative actions. In his works, he has had ideograms written on his face until covered in an illegible black stain, raised the water level of a pond by immersing his body along with about forty workers, embraced and clashed with Western culture through the Marforio statue, confronted the diversity of a donkey's nature, and reappropriated his identity by eating photographs of his family members in an attempt to overcome dissolution. Zhang Huan's practice uses the body to collapse distinctions, highlight the impossibility of embracing diversity and identity, and connect with others and nature. He states, 'I want to work so that people can be moved by the sense of the possible,' as quoted in an interview by RoseLee Goldberg. His work provokes questions, impacts real political thought, and shakes common sense without producing tangible results, instead suggesting new relationships of signification. The exhibition took place at Galleria Giampaolo Abbondio in Milan, as reported by Francesca Mattozzi for Artribune.