Guitarists and artist who cares

Zheng's work Watch The Live at Home－Slipknot shows him and members of American heavy metal band Slipknot. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Huang Liaoyuan, curator of the exhibition and a longtime friend of Zheng, says the artist is good at using mixed materials in paintings instead of installations.

A bulb, a pair of sunglasses, a ponytail grip, a piece of tubing－all find their places in Zheng's wood prints.

Zheng used hundreds of tapes, CDs and posters in his works. Some were provided by his friends, also fans of rock'n' roll, while others came from Chinese rockers.

Zheng started listening to rock bands in high school－Guns N' Roses and Nirvana. He says he and his friends got power from the music in their teen years.

After entering Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts, Zheng went to watch as many live performances of rock as he could. Some favorites he was never able to see in person, but they come to life in his paintings.

His series Watch the Live at Home depicts live performances of bands based on TV shows. In his paintings, the guitarist drinks water, lights a cigar or sticks out his tongue while the artist as a viewer sits on a couch at home.

"It's all for fun. I can be as close as possible in my painting world with my idols."

None of the guitarists in The Tree are from Asia. Zheng says this is because the genre has a long history in the West, but in China it's still very young.

He loves to read biographies of these musicians for inspiration both in his works and in his life.

"They all gained fame and became young millionaires, but they also had to confront ups and downs in life," making them good subjects for his own artistic expression, he says.

The Tree marks an end to Zheng's focus on rock 'n' roll. He will focus on painting. However, he says he will continue listening to rock music.

If you go

12-6 pm, through Feb 19. Beijing Art Now Gallery, Red Yard No 1, Caochangdi, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-5127-3292.