Bird Cage, a temporary shelter

The book Bird Cage, a temporary shelter. Zhang Enli per la Galleria Borghese, is a work dedicated to the installation of the same name by the Chinese artist, curated by Geraldine Leardi and Davide Quadrio, on display at the Galleria Borghese from 9 April to 7 July 2019. The site specific work is part of the Committenze Contemporanee programme, designed and developed by Anna Coliva with works by contemporary artists inspired by the Galleria Borghese as an exceptional artistic venue.

The work of Zhang Enli, who lives and works in Shanghai, reflects on the relationship between architecture and the artwork: in a game of transpositions, historical echoes and hybridisms, the artist creates four symbolic structures that show the viewer unexpected narratives, speaking of distant lands and contaminations, and transferring the complexity of the past in the equally stratified reality of the present.

Zhang Enli's work, one of China's most important contemporary painters, is explored in depth in the previously unpublished contributions by Anna Coliva, Geraldine Leardi, Hou Hanru and Davide Quadrio; Quadrio also holds a detailed interview with the author, in which Zhang Enli describes the genesis of his work and its relationship with the spaces in the Galleria Borghese. In addition to the photographs of the installation, which also document the installation phase, the book contains images of works belonging to the earlier Space Painting series and an artist biography.