Zhang He

Works
Overview
  • Zhang He, Back and Around, 2024 Back and Around, 2024
  • Zhang He, Forever Valentine II, 2024 Forever Valentine II, 2024
  • Zhang He, Carnival of Light, 2021 Carnival of Light, 2021
View works
"While the expressiveness of his painterly strokes make a definitive statement of their own, Zhang is not solely interested in creating the allure of texture; rather, it is part of his integral painting process to achieve an overarching state of equilibrium on canvas: between positive and negative spaces, the thick and thin, and contrasting color tones."

Through a dynamic language of abstraction, Zhang’s oil paintings convey a visceral engagement with the surrounding natural environment while evoking the depth of human emotions. With a calligraphic execution, his bold and gestural brushstrokes demonstrate a unique physicality and spontaneity, which resonate with early influences of Abstract Expressionism and the Automatistes Movement. The luscious colors and rich textures dictate each composition by accentuating its inherent physicality, and in doing so, add a sculptural quality to the painting.

 

While the expressiveness of his painterly strokes make a definitive statement of their own, Zhang is not solely interested in creating the allure of texture; rather, it is part of his integral painting process to achieve an overarching state of equilibrium on canvas: between positive and negative spaces, the thick and thin, and contrasting color tones. In fact, the very act of breaking existing patterns requires great instinctive judgment and continually challenges the artist, in order to achieve a harmonious formulation of movement and thought. As such, Zhang engages in the ongoing dialogue to reinvent abstract painting by seeking to evoke a fundamental state of existence through an intimate encounter with nature, the cycle of life, and the plethora of human emotions.

Download Artist's CV (PDF, opens in a new tab.)
Biography
  • Zhang He, Back and Around, 2024 Back and Around, 2024
  • Zhang He, Forever Valentine II, 2024 Forever Valentine II, 2024
  • Zhang He, Carnival of Light, 2021 Carnival of Light, 2021
View works

Zhang He is a Chinese-Canadian painter born in 1963 in Shenyang, China. Trained at the Shenyang Institute in photography, stage design, and oil painting, he relocated to Montreal in 1998, where he has developed an artistic practice that bridges Eastern visual traditions with Western abstraction. His work is shaped by a dynamic interplay between the structure and energy of Chinese calligraphy and the freedom of gesture found in Abstract Expressionism and the Quebec Automatistes. This cultural fusion gives rise to paintings that are both introspective and expansive — fields of exploration for the invisible vital forces that move through the human body and the natural world.

 

In his studio, Zhang He typically works on canvases laid flat, allowing him to paint with his entire body as well as his mind. His gesture, spontaneous and instinctual, becomes a form of physical meditation — a way to channel chi, or vital energy, and inscribe it onto the canvas. His compositions are vibrant and textured, balancing density and openness, and are infused with a sensitivity to nature’s rhythm and raw emotion. The result is abstract work that remains profoundly human, merging chaos and order, vulnerability and strength, silence and motion.

 

Zhang He has exhibited internationally at major events such as Art Toronto, the Florence Biennale, the National Gallery of Thailand, and Art Miami. He is represented by several galleries across Canada, including in Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto. His works are held in prestigious private and public collections, including those of Tiffany & Co., LVMH, and various museum institutions. Through a practice that is both deeply contemporary and rooted in the ancestral tradition of gesture, Zhang He continues to explore energy, presence, and the ephemeral beauty of the moment.

Download Artist's CV (PDF, opens in a new tab.)
Exhibitions
Art Fairs