Zhang Ding was born in 1980 in the city of Zhangye in the northwestern province of Gansu. In 2003 he graduated from the oil-painting department of Northwest Minority University in Lanzhou, then studied at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province. He now lives and works in Shanghai.
Zhang uses videos, sculpture, paintings and live performances to depict urban life and underground culture. In 2014 he founded the art label CON TROL CLUB. By integrating artists, geeks and musicians, the Club has presented gatherings and parties with sound, immersive A/V and installations so as to explore the dialectics of control/anti-control and to expand the concept of authorship.
Zhang Ding’s 2017 solo exhibition Vortex (ShanghART, Shanghai) was a virtual-world installation occupying the entire first floor of the gallery. Eight tracks were supported by 12 steel columns with power generators, chains and sensors. Automated mechanical software controlled 20 enormous LED screens. Four stereos provided multiple sound-channels in synch with the mechanical movements. These elements combined to create a uniquely dynamic and immersive work of art.
Zhang Ding was awarded the Tanc Asia Prize in 2015, and the Porsche Young Artist of the Year prize in 2017. His work has been collected by the Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow; the Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo; the DSK Collection, Beijing; the Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation, Switzerland.
Solo exhibitions include High Speed Forms at OCAT, Shanghai (2019); and Safe House, at three spaces simultaneously in Beijing (co-initiated by the KWM Art Center, the Wyoming Project and the Bunker, 2018). Devouring Time, at the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, involved transforming the museum into a golden jail and live-streaming 150 VIP guests dining together. For Enter the Dragon II, at K11 Art Museum, Shanghai, and ICA, London, Zhang invited 44 musicians of various genres and styles to challenge the rules of music.