The Interrogator / Vivien Zhang
Bright spark
Vivien Zhang is a visual artist who was born in Beijing in 1990. She studied fine art at the Slade and painting at the Royal College of Art, both in London. Her kaleidoscopic, hyper-surrealist paintings have been exhibited in Shanghai, Dubai and Berlin. A new show, “undo undo undo”, opens at the Pilar Corrias gallery on Savile Row on 26 April.
Coffee, tea or something pressed to go with the headlines?
Tea with breakfast. I then have a mug of coffee with oat milk before setting off so that I’m pumped by the time I get to the studio.
Do you have a favourite weekend market?
My local market is Victoria Park market in East London. Sometimes I pick up a loaf of bread or a couple slices of cake. When I feel homesick, Upmarket in Brick Lane has an amazing stall that sells momos [Tibetan dumplings].
Favourite bookshop?
Koenig Books, which manages the Whitechapel Gallery bookshop, is great. It always has a wonderful selection of art catalogues on discount. My other go-to is the website of the publishing house Verso Books.
Which news source do you wake up to?
The BBC World Service.
Do you enjoy podcasts?
I’m a podcast junkie. My all-time favourite is Reply All, a podcast with damningly absurd human stories concerning technology and the internet. Other good finds include Dr Death (the title is pretty self-explanatory) and ICYMI, which delves into trending topics and the online abyss.
Five magazines from your weekend sofa-side stack?
Turps Banana, a London-based publication discussing painting by painters. The Economist, Frieze, Elephant and Harper’s Bazaar.
What’s the best thing you’ve seen on TV recently?
Top Boy, a crime drama about gang rivalry around the housing estates in East London. And, of course, Formula 1: Drive to Survive. This year’s holiday plan is to combine the Venice Biennale with the Italian grand prix in Monza.
Any movie recommendations?
The Lighthouse, a psychological thriller about two lighthouse keepers on a remote island and their eventual descent into madness. And The Dig, which is about the archaeological excavation of Sutton Hoo, the famous Anglo-Saxon shipwreck site in eastern England.
What about books?
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee: it’s a historical novel about a Korean family and their life during the Japanese occupation during the Second World War and a poignant portrayal of the nuanced relationships between two societies and its peoples, as well as the effects of war that we don’t normally see. And Education, a memoir by Tara Westover, on her survivalist Mormon family and her ultimate breakaway from it.
What do you listen to before drifting off?
Rain sounds from my Lumie Sad lamp.