No. 208 is a work of art by contemporary Chinese artist Hongyu Zhang from the series «Portrait»

This picture portrait is of a man whose face seems to be moving under the layers of pastel and ink. A veritable «human landscape» of which the lines get lost beyond the canvas. Behind the head, very faint, traditional Chinese lettering, using brush and China ink, fade into the brilliant copper-coloured background.

The different characters painted by Hongyu Zhang are fictional, they are more like auto-portraits: “all my portraits, are me” he says. The stroke constitutes the basic unity : the artist draws them on the floor, to the beat of music which helps him find the strength, the rhythm, the motion of each stroke. The artist opens an energetic space which draws us in and grasps us, inviting us to unravel this jittery writing that one would have thought invented to describe the depths of the soul.

Lines constitute the fundamental unit of his portraits: "I work with lines" he says. "When I paint a portrait, I draw each line and each brushstroke using the principles of calligraphy. Each line has a life, and all together - with their strength, movement and rhythm, they make up an energetic space." This energetic space magnetically draws and holds us, inviting us to decipher this nervous writing that seems to have been invented to describe the depths of the soul.

The painter Hongyu Zhang stems from calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting with a penchant for China ink, which he uses together with other mediums : acrylic, pastel and engraving.

This artwork is signed, sold unframed.