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.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 | Whisper of Stars, iPreciation, Singapore 2021 | “Spring Rhapsody”, iPreciation, Singapore 2019 | “Arts of China”, Brooklyn Museum, USA / “Out of Ink: Interpretations from Chinese Contemporary Art”. Pera Museum, Istanbul/ Scripts, Traces, and the Unpredictable, Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai, China 2018 | “Beyond Scholar Gardens,” Doland Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China / “Between Human and Water,” Zhu Jia Jiao Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai, China / “Dialog,” Zhu Qi Zhan Museum, Shanghai, China / “From New Shanghai School to Contemporary,” Baoshan Art Museum, Shanghai, China / “Romantic Abstraction of Shanghai,” SPSI Art Museum, Shanghai, China / “Ink Worlds: Contemporary Chinese Painting from the Collection of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA / “Blurred Horizons,” Art Projects International, New York, New York, USA 2017 | “Avant-Garde · Shanghai: 1979-2010 Documenta of Shanghai Contemporary Art,” Ming Yuan Art Museum, Shanghai, China / “Landmark,” Guardian Art Center, Beijing, China / “Shanghai Visions,” Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China / ‘The Plane of Rewriting,” Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai, China / “Quotidian,” Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai, China / “Presence,” Art Projects International, New York, New York, USA 2016 | “Under Heaven: Contemporary Art from China in the Ahmanson Collection,” Ahmanson Gallery, Irvine, California, USA / “White Grey Black,” Gallerie Canvas International Art, Amsterdam, The Netherlands / “Water & Ink: Tradition in the Contemporary Art,” China Cultural Center in Brussels, Belgium / “Splotch,” Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York, New York, USA / “Splotch,” Leslie Heller Workspace, New York, New York, USA / “Wu-U Speech: Artists Living in Shanghai,” Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China / “Chinese Whispers,” Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland 2015 | “View from Shanghai,” Cloud Art Museum, Shanghai, China “30 Years of Contemporary Shanghai Art,” Sheshan Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China / “Navigating Abstraction,” Christian Duvernois Gallery, New York, New York, USA / Canvas Gallery, Basel, Switzerland / “Open: Contemporary Ink Art” Da Xiang Art Center, Taizhong, Taiwan / “Force 12 Hurricane: Ming Gathering,” Ming Yuan Art Museum, Shanghai, China 2014 | “Nature and Beyond,” Leo Gallery, Shanghai, China / “Pursuing Dream: Shanghai Sculpture Invitational Show,” Shanghai Sculpture Space, China / “Contemporary Ink,” Da Xiang Art Center, Taizhong, Taiwan / “Experimental Art,” The 12th China National Art Exhibition, Today Museum, Beijing, China / “Sempre Natura,” Christian Duvernois Gallery, New York, New York, USA / “Chinese Abstraction: 1980s – Current,” Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong Art Basel / “China Arte Brazil,” OCA, Sao Paulo, Brazil / “Contemporary Chinese Prints,” Pace Prints Gallery, New York, New York, USA / “Nomads,” Ming Yuan Art Center, Shanghai, China 2013 | “Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, USA / “Tutte le strade portano a Roma. 17 artisti contemporanei da SHANGHAI a Palazzo Brancaccio,” Museo Nazionale D’Arte Orientale, Rome, Italy / “Opening,” Christian Duvernois Gallery, New York, New York, USA / “Yang Shi (Form),” Z-Art Center, Shanghai, China / “Portrait of the Times: 30 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art,” Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China / “Insightful Charisma,” Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai, China / “Voice of the Unseen: Chinese Independent Art 1979-Today,” Arsenale, Venice Biennale Collateral Exhibition, Venice, Italy / “Early Contemporary Art in Shanghai,” Baoshan International Art Center, Shanghai, China / “Contemporary Chinese Art,” Halcyon Gallery, Shanghai, China 2012 | “Culture Shanghai: A Return Oriented Towards the Future,” Shanghai Sculpture Space, Shanghai, China / “Ink Now,” Special Project of The SH Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai, China / “Water,” Anacostia Art Museum, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA / “Undoing ShuiMo – Contemporary ShuiMo Exhibition,” Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China / “A New Spirit in Ink: An Exhibition of Cutting Edge Ink Art,” Zendai Contemporary Art Space, Shanghai, China / “Shanghai! La Tentation de l’occident,” L’Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez, Bordeaux, France / “Abstraction,” Pearl Lam Gallery, Hong Kong / “Line,” Art Center of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, Shanghai, China / “Water/Ink Biennial,” DaFen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China / “Ink Boundary,” M50 Art Center, Shanghai, China 2011 | “Celestial Abstraction,” Contemporary Art Museum, Rome, Italy / “20 Years Retrospective Exhibition of 1991 San Diego Chinese Artistic Creation Seminar,” Xian Art Museum, Xian, China / “Selected Asian Cultural Council Fellows: Then and Now,” Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong / “ShanShui,” Kunstmuseum, Lucern, Switzerland / “Sofia Paper Biennial,” National Gallery of Foreign Art, Sofia, Bulgaria / “Wu Ming: Form is Formless,” Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai, China / “Nature and Its Modern Forms,” Ming Yuan Art Center, Shanghai, China 2010 | “The Seventh Shenzhen International Chinese Ink Biennale,” Shenzhen, China / “Big Draft – Shanghai,” Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland / “Speed and Chaos,” PingYao International Photography Biennial, PingYao, China / “Vestiges of a Process: Transition,” Zendai Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China / “Celestial Abstraction,” National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China / “Shanghai,” Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, California, USA 2009 | “Ink Society,” Sunshine International Museum, Song Zhuang, Beijing, China / “In-Situ: A Dialog with Space and Time,” River South Art Center, Shanghai, China / “Chinese Gardens for Living: Illusions to Reality,” Europalia.China International Arts Festival, The Square, Brussels, Belgium / “Shanghai Tang – History in the Making: Shanghai 1979-2009,” Jumen Art Center, Shanghai, China / “Yi Pai,” Art Today Museum, Beijing, China / “Direction of Ink Art,” Zendai Zhujiajiao Art Museum, Zhujiajiao, China / “A Starting Point: Intrude 366 – Dynamics of Change and Growth,” Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China 2008 | “Mountain & Water,” Dresden Art Museum, Dresden, Germany / “Towards Abstraction: 1976-1985 Shanghai Contemporary Art,” Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China / “Art Multiple,” Ke Center for the Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China / “Speed of the Flows,” Shanghai YuanDian Gallery, Shanghai, China / “Vestiges of a Process: Shanghai Shikumen Project 2008,” “Intrude 366,” Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China / “China Abstract Painting 30 Years,” Caixa Forum Museum, Barcelona & Madrid, Spain 2007 | “Rejected Collection,” Ke Center for Contemporary Arts, Shanghai, China / “Asia/Europa Mediation,” Poznan National Museum of Art, Poznan, Poland / “3rd International Art Festival,” Rajamangala University, Poh-Chang, Bangkok, Thailand / “Escape by Crafty Scheme_salvation From Traditional and Revolutional Language,” Square Gallery of Contemporary Art, Nanjing, China / “Language/Environment,” Museum of Contemporary Art Beijing, Beijing, China 2006 | “Crossing the Atlantic,” Goldsmith’s College, London, England / “Entry Gate: Chinese Aesthetics of Heterogeneity,” 1st Envisage, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China / “Experimental Ink,” Contemporary Art Museum, Tian Jin, China / “Close to Home,” BlockParty Brooklyn, New York, USA / “New Chinese Occidentalism,” Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York, New York, USA 2005 | “Flowing River: 30 Years of Chinese Oil Painting,” National Art Museum, Beijing, China / “100 Years of Chinese Sculpture,” Shanghai Sculpture Space, Shanghai, China / “1st International Sculpture Biennale,” Xu Jia Hui Park, Shanghai, China / “Black+White,” Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China / “Regards to ’85,” Duolun Art Museum, Shanghai, China / “Replacement,” Cathay Gallery, Beijing, China / “Poles Apart Poles Together: Markers V,” Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy / “Anniversary Show,” Beijing Film Institute, Beijing, China 2004 | “The Fourth Shenzhen International Chinese Ink Biennale,” Shenzhen, China / “Shanghai Abstract Survey – 50 Years,” Ming Yuan Art Center, Shanghai, China / “10/20,” Lui Hai Su Art Museum, Shanghai, China / “A Grain of Dust A Drop of Water,” The 5th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, Korea / “On the Edge,” Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York, New York, USA 2003 | “10-Year Anniversary,” Art Projects International Gallery, New York, New York, USA / “Breathe,” New York University Gallery, New York, New York, USA / “Brushworks: New Asian Calligraphy,” Andrew Bae Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, USA / “Mountain & River,” Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA / Diverseworks Art Center, Houston, Texas, USA / “5=1,” L.A. Artcore Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA 2002 | “Urban Creation,” The Fourth Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China / “Guangzhou Triennial,” Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China / “East + West,” Kunstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria / “China Triennial,” Metropolitan Museum of Guangzhou, Guangzhou, China / “Markers II,” EAM Gallery, Kassel, Germany / “Variations of Ink,” Chambers Fine Art, New York, New York, USA / “Contemporary Brush Strokes,” China 2000 Gallery, New York, New York, USA / “Making China,” Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York, New York, USA 2001 | “1st Chengdu Biennial,” Chengdu, China / “Markers,” Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy / “Metaphysics and Reality,” Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China / “Milestones for Peace,” Weill Art Gallery, New York, New York, USA 2000 | “DMZ_2000,” Korean Gallery, New York, USA / “Construction in Process VII: This Earth is a Flower,” The International Artists’ Museum, Lodz, Poland / “Cow Parade,” New York, New York, USA / “Milestones for Peace,” Jerusalem Art Festival, Jerusalem, Israel / “Conceptual Ink,” Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York, New York, USA / “The International Artists’ Museum in New York,” Mercer Gallery, New York, New York, USA 1999 | “Wrap the World,” The Kitchen, New York, New York, USA / “Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century,” Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, Illinois, USA / “Language,” Ethan Cohen Fine Art, New York, New York, USA 1998 | Observatoire 4 Galerie, Montreal, Quebec, Canada / “Chinese Artists Working in New York,” Purdue University Gallery, Indiana, USA 1997 | “Basic Elements,” Art Beatus Gallery, Vancouver, B.C., Canada / “Bank: Inside the Counting Room,” Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, New York, USA / Art Projects International Gallery, New York, New York, USA / “Sculpture 1997,” Connemara Conservancy Sculpture Park, Dallas, Texas 1996 “Open Space,” Shanghai Art Museum Biennial, China / Pennsylvania University Art Museum, USA / “Eastern Fusion: Contemporary Asian American Art in New York,” Hillwood Art Museum, New York, USA 1995 | Grosse Kunstausstelung, Dusseldorf, Germany / “Peace, Earth, Healing,” Hiroshima, Japan 1993 | “Construction in Process #4,” The Artists’ Museum, Lodz, Poland / “93NY50,” Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, New York, USA 1992 | Ruine der Kunst, Berlin, Germany / “Conversations,” The Artists’ Museum, Lodz, Poland / “Workspace ’92,” Jamaica Arts Center, New York, New York, USA
Natural History Museum, New York, New York, USA 1991 | San Diego State University Gallery, California, USA / “Annual,” Asian American Art Center, New York, New York, USA 1990 | East West Contemporary Inc. Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, USA / Exhibition Space Gallery, New York, New York, USA 1989 | Nerlino Gallery, New York, New York, USA / Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan / Han Art Gallery, Hong Kong / “China/Avant Garde,” China National Art Gallery, Beijing, China 1988 | “Last Supper” performance, Shanghai Art Museum, China / Art West/Art East Gallery, Hamburg, Germany / Art Waves Gallery, New York, New York, USA
Art Museum of Nanjing, China / “Annual,” Shanghai Art Museum, China 1987 | Hong Kong Art Centre, Hong Kong / Alisan Gallery, Hong Kong / Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California, USA 1986 | Tokyo Municipal Museum, Tokyo, Japan / “Annual,” Shanghai Art Museum, China / “First Shanghai Young Artists Competition Exhibition,” Shanghai Art Museum, China 1985 | “Annual,” Shanghai Art Museum, China / Shanghai Drama Institute Gallery, China 1983 | “Painting Experiment,” Fudan University Faculty Center, Shanghai, China 1982 | “Annual,” Shanghai Art Museum, China 1981 | “Annual,” Shanghai Art Museum, China 1980 | Shanghai Art Museum, China 1979 | “Annual,” Shanghai Art Museum, China 1978 | “Wild Roses,” Shanghai Drama Institute, China
