1977

2000 - 2005

born in Suzhou, China

UdK Berlin under Karl-Jorst Hödicke
Meisterschüler under Karl-Jorst Hödicke

Yuzheng Cheng (b. 1977 in Suzhou, PR China), lives and works in Berlin. In his paintings he presents unexpected developments and discontinuities. One might see old photos and postcards, pictures from newspapers and the Internet, or even a simple paper bag for fruit and vegetables. While all these things may appear outlandish or nostalgic, they make good motifs right from the start. Cheng cuts through the daily flood of images, and to counter the dull familiarity of media-produced pictures where you can barely decide what you are seeing he presents a painting practice that offers an entrancing glimpse of the gap between real and pictorial reality. Cheng expresses a highly topical perspective on the forces and visual experiences of our contemporary world, which he transforms into the medium of painting. He halts the nearsighted transgressions of real-time images and transforms briefly seen motifs into permanent artistic reality. Hollow political rituals or everyday pictorial clichés are laid picturesquely bare and captured in the paintings with familiar strangeness – bizarre and confusing. Thereby he is closer to the reality of the remote than are many other contemporary artistic positions. Cheng Yuzheng’s paintings become clues to prove something 'real' existed somewhere in our world: and that anything is there at all. The questions that Cheng’s paintings evoke are especially significant. These are questions about the image’s materiality, about the correlation of imageability, and in a larger context about technical possibilities and the intellectual and social-science aspects of the function and societal application of images.

2007

as seen on screen. yuzheng cheng, Thomas Levy Galerie, Hamburg (S, C)

2006

Marilyn Monroe: Life of a Legend, Art Center, Sioux City; Museum of Art, Boca Raton; Museum of Art, Huntington und Art Institute, Dayton(G, C)
Tiefstapeln. Neue Bilder, artembassy, Berlin (S, C)
Berliner Positionen, Kunst-Kabinett, Benz (G)
Durchgeknallt, Fahrradhalle portikussi, Offenbach und Kunstkabinett,Regensburg (G)
Liebe Grüße - Best Wishes, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athen (S)
Landschaften, Galerie Antje Wachs, Berlin (S)
Marilyn Monroe. Legende, Mythos und Ikone, Kunsthaus, Hamburg (G, C)
Salon de Mai, Galerie Thomas Levy, Hamburg (G)
Theodorus-Hospiz-Preis 2005: Cheng Yuzheng, Theodorus-Hospiz, Berlin (S, C)

2005

"1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - Junge Malerei aus Berlin", Galerie Levy, Hamburg (G)
"Subjektive Obsession", Art Frankfurt (G)
"TOUCHE - Klasse Hödicke", RAAB Galerie, Berlin (G)
Galerie Levy, art cologne 39 (G)

2004

"IDENTITÄT IM DIGITALEN ZEITALTER",
Bundesdruckerei und Kunsthaus Bethanien, Berlin (G)

2003

"Klasse Hödicke", UdK Quergalerie, Berlin (G)
"Schaustelle 8", Galerie Giesler, Berlin (G)
Galerie für aktuelle Malerei, Berlin (G)

2002

"Schaustelle 7" , Galerie Eva Poll, Berlin (G)