Zeng Jianyong was born in 1971 in Chengdu, in the Sichuan Province of China. He originally trained as a illustrator for children’s books, completing several for Warner Book Publications before choosing to focus on his own paintings. Zeng has a unique style and subject matter, both of which he exploits to their fullest potential in his Header Series. This group of paintings depicts children with disproportionately large heads and wide eyes. They stare out from the canvas with expressions that suggest a combination of innocence and anxiety. One is reminded of the travails of childhood and of the difficulty children face in learning to navigate a world that operates beyond their understanding and without their consent.
