Fortnum & Mason X Zhang Enli

Shanghai based artist Zhang Enli is one of China's biggest names. He has had a lot of success in the UK, too, becoming the Royal Academy's first Chinese artist in residence in 2018. Enli's early work was concerned with the overlooked, those familiar objects we see every day, such as buckets and socks, tiled walls and umbrellas. More recently he has been travelling around the UK between London and Scotland, and it is these journeys that have inspired a new series of topographical works, commissioned by Fortnum & Mason as part of the store's annual artist initiative.



19 large works on paper will be shown, each one inspired by the topography of Britain's landscape as viewed from above. The paintings are elegant images of swirling greens and blues – the countryside and city seen through fresh eyes. Beneath the paint, images from newspapers are visible making the works a palimpsest of sorts, just like the land, which bears the scars of millennia of change.

The paintings will go on display at Fortnum & Mason on 10 September, opposite the Royal Academy. Enli has also been commissioned to produce a new six-part work for Fortnum & Mason's first flagship store outside the UK, which is set to open in Honk Kong on the city's Victoria Harbour waterfront.