Hailing from Shanghai, China, Zhang Jian-Jun (b.1955) is one of the most disciplined and gifted contemporary Asian artists of our time. Zhang graduated from Shanghai Drama Institute’s Fine Arts Department in 1978 and is today an Adjunct Professor at the Fine Arts Department of New York University.
Zhang’s art perforates the surface of East-West fusion and the idea of time, expressing his strikingly unique and profoundly perceptive musings. Exploring the essence of these topics, his art may not be instantaneously interpretable by many; however, this is also the very quality that elevates the intellectual element of his works, inviting viewer participation. Zhang demonstrates his gift in the artistic manipulation of time by re-creating the ancient scholar rock with modern materials such as silicone rubber. These ornate rocks, called Taihu Rocks, originated from Suzhou and are traditionally appreciated and prized by Chinese Literati. They are also symbolic of traditional Chinese culture and focus on the changes in aesthetics, culture and social patterns across time. Creatively, he has resurrected a fragment of history and propelled episodic moments from that distant time to this present age. These consequential works are evidently contemporary and undoubtedly unique.
Zhang has held more than 15 solo exhibitions and over 100 group exhibitions in China, the United States and other parts of Asia and Europe. His works are collected permanently in the K11 Art Foundation (Hong Kong), M+ Museum (Hong Kong), Power Station of Art (Shanghai), Brooklyn Museum (New York), Yuz Museum (Shanghai), San Francisco Asian Art Museum (California), Shanghai Art Museum, Jerry Yang Collection (California), Uli Sigg Collection, JP Morgan (Hong Kong), Guangdong Museum of Art (Guangzhou), Frederick R. Weisman Foundation of Art (California),
He was also involved in the Golden Globe Awards Party 2007 where he was commissioned to install his scholar rock sculpture, Mirage Garden #5.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- 2021 | Residency Programme co-presented by Royal Academy and K11 Art Foundation, presented at chiK11 art museum Shanghai, chiK11 art space Shenyang and K11 HACC Hong Kong.
- 2017 | Between Then and Now, OCAT Xi’An, China
- 2016 | Water • Quintessence, Pearl Lam Gallery, Shanghai, China
- 2015 | China Chapter, Galerie Albrecht, Berlin, Germany
- 2015 | Jade Mountain & Ink River, Christian Duvernois Gallery, New York, New York, USA
- 2015 | 1980s: Zhang Jian-Jun’s Early Artwork (1978-1988), Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China
- 2015 | Nature and Beyond,” Leo Gallery, Art Basel Hong Kong
- 2015 | Water • Ink • China, Pace Prints, New York, New York, USA
- 2014 | Nature, Art Projects International, New York, New York, USA
- 2012 | Forms • Water • Vestiges, Pavilion of Repose Garden, Kunshan, China
- 2011 | Water, 99 Art Center at M50, Shanghai, China
- 2007 | Zhang Jian-Jun: Vestiges of a Process, iPreciation, Singapore
- 2007 | Alternative Landscape, 140 sqm Gallery, Shanghai, China
- 2007 | Mirage Garden Part 6, South Beauty Garden, Shanghai, China (in collaboration with Barbara Edelstein)
- 2007 | Vestiges of a Process: New York, Shanghai, New Village, iPreciation, Singapore
- 2005 | Vestiges of a Process, Asian American Art Centre, New York, USA
- 2005 | Garden of Wishing Trees, Maiden Lane Exhibition Space, New York, USA
- (in collaboration with Barbara Edelstein)
- 2004 | Vestiges of a Process: Chelsea Chapter, DTW Gallery, New York, USA
- 2003 | Mountain & River, Art Projects International Gallery, New York, New York, USA
- 2002 | Chinese Ink Garden of Re-Creation, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
- 2002 | Vestiges of a Process: Guangzhou Chapter, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
- 2002 | China Chapter, Museum of the Shenzhen Art Institute, Shenzhen, China
- 2001 | Art Projects International, New York, New York, USA
- 1997 | Footprint, Gallerie Deux, Tokyo, Japan
- 1995 | Art Projects International Gallery, New York,
- 1994 | The Paradox of the Fish, Gallery Contempo, New York, New York, USA
- 1989 | Nerlino Gallery, New York, New York, USA
- 1988 | Existence, Kay Garvey Gallery, Glen Ellyn, Illinois, USA
- 1988 | Solo Exhibition, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA
- 1987 | Solo Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
- 2019 | Out of Ink: Interpretations from Chinese Contemporary Art, Pera Museum, Istanbul
- 2019 | Beyond Scholar Gardens, 2018, Duolan Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
- 2018 | Between Human and Water, Zhu Jia Jiao Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- 2018 | Dialog, Zhu Qi Zhan Museum, Shanghai, China
- 2018 | From New Shanghai School to Contemporary, Baoshan Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- 2017 | Avant-Garde · Shanghai: 1979-2010 Documenta of Shanghai Contemporary Art, Ming Yuan Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- 2016 | Under Heaven: Contemporary Art from China in the Ahmanson Collection, Ahmanson Gallery, Irvine, California, USA
- 2016 | White Grey Black, Gallerie Canvas International Art, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 2016 | Water & Ink: Tradition in the Contemporary Art, China Cultural Center in Brussels, Belgium
- 2016 | Splotch, Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York, New York, USA
- 2015 | View from Shanghai, Cloud Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- 2015 | 30 Years of Contemporary Shanghai Art, Sheshan Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China
- 2015 | Navigating Abstraction, Christian Duvernois Gallery, New York, New York, USA
- 2015 | Canvas Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
- 2014 | Nature and Beyond, Leo Gallery, Shanghai, China
- 2014 | Pursuing Dream: Shanghai Sculpture Invitational Show, Shanghai Sculpture Space, China
- 2014 | Contemporary Ink, Da Xiang Art Center, Taizhong, Taiwan
- 2014 | Experimental Art, The 12th China National Art Exhibition, Today Museum, Beijing, China
- 2014 | Sempre Natura, Christian Duvernois Gallery, New York, New York, USA
- 2013 | Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, USA
- 2013 |Tutte le strade portano a Roma. 17 artisti contemporanei da SHANGHAI a Palazzo Brancaccio, Museo Nazionale D’Arte Orientale, Rome, Italy
- 2013 |Opening, Christian Duvernois Gallery, New York, New York, USA
- 2012 | Culture Shanghai: A Return Oriented Towards the Future, Shanghai Sculpture Space, Shanghai, China
- 2012 | Ink Now, Special Project of The SH Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai, China
- 2012 | Water, Anacostia Art Museum, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA
- 2012 | Undoing ShuiMo – Contemporary ShuiMo Exhibition, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
- 2011 | Celestial Abstraction, Contemporary Art Museum, Rome, Italy
- 2011 |20 Years Retrospective Exhibition of 1991 San Diego Chinese Artistic Creation Seminar, Xian Art Museum, Xian, China
- 2011 |Selected Asian Cultural Council Fellows: Then and Now, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
- 2011 |ShanShui, Kunstmuseum, Lucerne, Switzerland
- 2010 | The Seventh Shenzhen International Chinese Ink Biennale, Shenzhen, China
- 2010 | Big Draft – Shanghai, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- 2009 | Ink Society,” Sunshine International Museum, Song Zhuang, Beijing, China
- 2009 | “In-Situ: A Dialog with Space and Time,” River South Art Center, Shanghai, China
- 2009 | Chinese Gardens for Living: Illusions to Reality, Europalia.China International Arts Festival, The Square, Brussels, Belgium
- 2008 | Mountain & Water, Dresden Art Museum, Dresden, Germany
- 2008 | Towards Abstraction: 1976-1985 Shanghai Contemporary Art, Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
- 2007 | Rejected Collection, Ke Center for Contemporary Arts, Shanghai, China
- 2007 | Asia/Europa Mediation, Poznan National Museum of Art, Poznan, Poland
- 2006 | Crossing the Atlantic, Goldsmith’s College, London, England
- 2006 | Entry Gate: Chinese Aesthetics of Heterogeneity, 1st Envisage, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China
- 2005 | Flowing River: 30 Years of Chinese Oil Painting, National Art Museum, Beijing, China
- 2005 | 100 Years of Chinese Sculpture, Shanghai Sculpture Space, Shanghai, China
- 2004 | The Fourth Shenzhen International Chinese Ink Biennale,” Shenzhen, China
- 2004 | Shanghai Abstract Survey – 50 Years, Ming Yuan Art Center, Shanghai, China
- 2003 | 10-Year Anniversary, 2003, Art Projects International Gallery, New York, USA
- 2002 | Urban Creation, The Fourth Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- 2001 | 1st Chengdu Biennial, Chengdu, China
- 2000 | DMZ_2000, Korean Gallery, New York, USA
- 1999 | Wrap the World, The Kitchen, New York, New York, USA
- 1998 | Observatoire 4 Galerie, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
For full CV and biography details, please contact the gallery at enquiry@ipreciation.com
Artwork Images
