當代藝術不同於傳統藝術甚至不同於“當下”時間之前藝術樣式的最大特徵是在材料、語言和空間上的不斷試驗和不斷發展，由此構成當代藝術從觀念到表達的時代性與發展趨勢。在西方，這種態勢已經有了近20年的歷史，甚至可以上溯到20世紀初以來的現代藝術諸流派；在中國，當代藝術之所以出現強勁的發展勢頭和活潑的生機，也在於有一大批藝術家堅持進行著材料的試驗。但是，材料的試驗本身和決定試驗精神的觀念性動力都還有許多問題值得探討。
在這個意義上，藝術材料和關於材料價值的思考是同步的。

　　對當代藝術正在發生的這些變化，特別是當代藝術面臨的這些要解決的問題，藝術家張國龍是早有敏感和思考的。我之所以說他“早有”，是因為他從90年代開始，就在自己的藝術實踐中接觸、碰撞過這些問題，並且是這些問題的努力實踐者和不懈探索者。在他留學求藝於德國的日子裡，他從繪畫領域探向材料的實驗，在材料的實驗中形成自己的藝術追求，也進行過材料的拓展性實驗來表達自己的藝術觀念。

　　就張國龍的藝術創作而言，多年來他一直圍繞繪畫精神上的中西融合，借由材料的物質屬性抒發自己意欲謀求的文化意象，也在對材料的把握和運用中構築起自己作品的個性形態。他當年人在德國，就不斷有作品參加國內的當代藝術展覽，在畫壇引起了大家的關注。

　　張國龍從當代藝術的“德國學派”中領會和吸收的“材料語言”，對國內新藝術創作曾經起到了激發的作用。他後來與一批藝術家經常開展交流，堅持探討藝術材料與藝術觀念的關係，也使畫壇這股流脈不斷延續和展開。當然，他最終回到國內，立足本土，則對當代藝術的中國狀況有了更為直接的感知，思維更加活躍，實踐上也成為更加堅定的“材料派”。

　　What is the relationship between concept and material? How can the changed material be adapted to specific cultural contexts? Zhang Guolong, one of contemporary Chinese artists, tries to inquire and interpret those questions by his own art practice.
　　Zhang's work starts with concrete materials and he considers them as the carriers of concept and language. Only when the objective materials are subjectively interpreted by Zhang can their concept and language be embodied and expressed. In selecting and filtering those flowing, fresh materials Zhang continuously gains his power—through his displacement and interpretation the potential expressive power of those materials is associated with its original state, and thus an unexpected effect is achieved, that is, a different form is produced from the original one.
　　It is safe to say that Zhang insists on being free and independent. Zhang seeks and discovers in natural materials the essence of art—the energy of nature and spirit—so as to bring art back to its simple original state: for one thing, its power in making the energy accord with basic natural materials; for another, its aesthetic meaning concerning life, memory and emotion which is related to human's spiritual world. In many of his works Zhang takes soil as the main medium of his art, for soil is regarded originally and naturally as something alive, something that is growing, moving, changing and fermenting, and as the spirit of the world and the condensation of individual experiences. Since the image of soil is borrowed by the artist and it is not concrete but spiritual and imaginary, the energy hidden in this image is expressed look for the spirit value which accords with him. Zhang succeeds in finding his own methodology by which he reassembles different materials by the way of archaeology and not only depending on the sense of massiveness and amount (being full, complete, massive and real) characteristic of western art, but also relying on those aesthetic elements of Chinese art such as tranquility, emptiness, virtuality, and natural clearness, combines individual memories, historical fragments and pieces of natural scenes together into an organically related image world. Therefore rather than expresses the consciousness which is grand, historical and heroic, his work reflects such a state as is full of individual memories, is local, sentimental, melancholy, simple and poetic. Full of emotions and images, Zhang's work is created from his own experiences and understanding of the world. And his work leads the audience to imagine freely the power of nature, to feel and understand the harmonious relationship hidden in the work, to inquire the indications of history and to be moved by the imagination of natural poetic state and cultural melancholy.
　　While it is important for Zhang Guolong, a conceptual artist, to hold an attitude to be skeptical and resistant, it is more important for him to construct his own art language, for an artist does not “destroy” or “subvert” something just for destroying or subverting it, but for the construction of art issues and the construction of the continued art. Zhang's work is perfectly the practical construction of many such issues—out of reality, imagination and symbols he continuously builds his ideal art world.