✴✴✴

brooklynmuseum:

This photograph documents Zhang Dali’s engagement with the rapidly changing face of Beijing and the destruction of historical neighborhoods resulting from China’s economic reforms of the 1980s. For years, the artist spray-painted or carved silhouettes of his head on traditional buildings slated for demolition. These functioned as marks of resistance, or at least commemoration, throughout the city. In the image shown here, the Forbidden City palace hovers above a partially demolished wall, contrasting the preservation of official history with the destruction of centuries-old neighborhoods and communities. 

Zhang Dali (Chinese, born 1963) Demolition on Forbidden City, 1998. Courtesy Klein Sun Gallery and the artist.