CMS Collection is delighted to present a solo show of Yunyao Zhang, a Chinese artist, who lives and works between Shanghai and Paris.

This exhibition will take the form of a “Cabinet de Curiosité” showcasing about 10 works ranging from drawings to etchings and collages on paper. All works are focused on portrait of an anonymous figure with elf ears. Since 2010 he started drawing on felt which brings a very different tactility to his images compared to his works on paper. In many of his works there is no room for failure or erasure. With an Asian philosophical perspective, the artist reduces the materials he needs to create his images. It mainly comes down to graphite, felt, paper, pencil, gum, his hand and time. He creates images of a photographic quality that are often inspired by places, artworks and spaces he visited. Felt evokes the idea of a hairy skin and something touchable. Often it comes with a desire to touch or to be touched but comes with all kinds of obstructions, social and cultural codes.

Through his artistic practice Yunyao Zhang researches themes related to art history, memory, loss, desire, eroticism, power, anger, destruction and the condition humaine, beyond cultural and contemporary taboos.