Wang Chuan

1953, Sichuan China

Introduction

Born in 1953 in Chengdu, China, Wang Chuan was an active proponent of the 1980s New Wave Movement. In 1978, he was admitted to the guohua department at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing, where he studied traditional guohua painting and oil painting. After graduating in 1982, he, like artists of his generation, produced realistic oil paintings. It wasn’t until 1984 that he became highly interested in abstract ink painting. In 1986, he organised the National Symposium of 85 New Wave Movement Artworks in Zhuhai, and curated the first street exhibition Zero in Shenzhen. In 1989, he participated in the important exhibition Modern Chinese Art held at the National Art Museum of China, in Beijing. In the late 1980s, he moved to Shenzhen, and in 1990 he settled in Guangzhou. In 1997, he contracted stomach cancer. In a recent letter to the gallery he stated “after being informed, Mrs. King asked her daughter to write a cheque of ten thousand dollars to treat my illness. For me it was truly a timely assistance. Mrs. King is indeed my savior and benefactor.” During this period he expressed his feelings towards the diagnosis in a body of ink paintings. He was artist-in-residence at Shenzhen Art Academy in 2005 and currently lives in Beijing.


Alisan Fine Arts first began showing his works in 1995 in the important group exhibition Wonders of Chinese Abstraction and then again in Chinese Abstraction and Beyond in 1997 at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, of this experience he recently wrote, “I felt honored to have my works included in this exhibition among Chinese masters such as Zao Wou-ki and Chu Teh-chun.” The gallery has included his work in seven group shows, and in 1999 held our first solo exhibition for the artist.


BIOGRAPHY
1953    Born in Sichuan, China
1960s    Began painting during the Cultural Revolution, while working building Railway tracks
1978    Accepted into the Sichuan Institute of Fine Arts, majoring in Chinese and oil painting
1982    BA Degree, Chinese Painting, Sichuan Art Academy, Chongqing, China
1982-84    Art editor and photographer for Modern Art
1984    Moved to Shenzhen and experimented in ink and oil
1987    Member of the Chinese Artist Association
1997    Moved to the United States
1998    Diagnosed with Gastric Cancer, had an operation and chemotherapy in Sichuan Hospital, China
1999-2002    Made a pilgrimage to Pokhara in Napel, practiced Buddhism, wrote articles, took pictures and DVD
2002-03   Lived in solitude in a small fishing village, Shenzhen, China
2005-2006    Became an artist in residence at Shenzhen Fine Art Institute, China
2007-    Living in Beijing, China

 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022

  • Wang Chuan: Circumference, Pingshan Art Museum, Shenzhen, China

2015

2011
  • Aloof from the Struggle & Aside from the Hubbub: Wang Chuan’s Solo Exhibition, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China
  • Ink on Paper by Wang Chuan, Babu Gallery, Shenzhen, China
2007
  • My Landscape, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing, China
2006
  • Chinese Abstract Art by Wang Chaun, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Shanghai, China
  • Oil on canvas by Wang Chuan, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal of He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China

2001   

  • Trace of Life: A Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by Wang Chuan, Shenzhen Fine Arts Institute, Shenzhen, China

2000   

  • Hanart T Z Gallery, Hong Kong
  • Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China

1999

  • Wang Chuan, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

1998

  • Ink Paintings by Wang Chuan, Gallery 456, New York, USA

1990   

  • Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
  • Hanart Gallery, New York, USA; Taipei, Taiwan, Hong Kong

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023             

  • Macau INternational Art Biennial, Macau Museum of Art, Macau

  • Chengdu Biennale: Time Gravity, Chengdu Art Museum, Chengdu, China

2021             

  • Ink Dreams: Selections from the Fondation INK Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA

2018             

  • Ink Worlds: Contemporary Chinese Painting from the Collection of Akiko Yamakazi and Jerry Yang, The Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA

  • Abstraction as Painterly Rhetoric: A Case Study Between Germany and China, Pifo Gallery, Beijing, China

2016

2015

  • About Painting Too, OCAT Xi'an, Xi'an, China

  • Post-Calligraphy in Chinese Contemporary Art, Kunstraum Villa Friede, Bonn, Germany

  • Living in Chengdu, Chengdu Art Museum, Chengdu, China

2014

  • About Painting Too, Kuandu Museum of Fine Art, Taipei, Taiwan
  • COSMOS: Inauguration of Shanghai 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum, 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai
  • Original Home: An Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Jiapingwa Cultural Museum of Art, Xi’an, China
  • Inauguration of Long Museum West Bund, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, China

2013

  • 5th Venice Biennale, Venice, Itlay
  • RE-INK Contemporary Ink and Wash Painting, Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan; Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

2012

  • Art Beijing, National Agricultural Exhibition Centre, Beijing, China
  • Self-Essence Naturalism, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

2011

  • Graphology of Painting, Beijing Museum of Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
  • Inauguration of Singapore Yang Gallery in Beijing, Beijing, China

2010

  • Reconstructed: Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Abstract Art, Today Art Museum, Beijing; Hangzhou Art Museum, Hangzhou, China
  • Art Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Open Flexibility: Innovative Contemporary Ink Art, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Array with No Objects: Academic Invitation Exhibition of Contemporary Abstract Art in 2010, Hubei Museum of art, Wuhan, China
  • Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art (1979–2009), Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China

2009

  • Return to the Modern, Zhejiang Museum of Arts, Hangzhou, China
  • Yi-Pai - Century Thinking, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
  • Qi Yun- International Exhibition of Chinese Abstract Art, China Square, New York, USA

2008

  • Abstracted Visions, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
  • Yi School 30 Years of Chinese Abstract Arts, Barcelona Museum of Arts, Barcelona; Caixa Forum Madrid, Madrid, Spain
  • Art 2008 Beijing, National Agriculture Exhibition Centre, Beijing, China
  • Case Studies of Arts History and Art Criticism, Art Space of Perspective, Chang Art Beijing, Beijing,China

2007

  • From Southwest: Contemporary Art from Southwest of China, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
  • Summer Festival of New Ink Art, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
  • Lines: Chinese Abstract Art, Greek Art Centre, Shanghai, China
  • Ink Had Five Colors, PIFD New Art Studios, Beijing, China
  • Qi Yun: The International Travelling Exhibition of Chinese Abstract Art, Shenzhen, Beijing, China; Hong Kong; New York, USA
  • Case Studies of Artists in Art History and Art Criticism, SZ Art Centre, Beijing, China
  • Art 2007 Beijing, National Agriculture Exhibition Centre, Beijing, China
  • Everloving SHUIMO: 2nd Invite Exhibition of the Ink Union of Songzhuang, Songzhuang Gallery, Beijing, China

2006

  • 1st Annual Exhibition of Asia Contemporary Art, Shi Ji Tan, Beijing, China
  • Chinese Painting Documentaries Exhibition, Nanjing Visual Art Museum, Nanjing, China
  • Chinese-Korean Contemporary Ink Painting, Guan Shanyue Museum of Art, Shenzhen, China
  • Create History: Commemoration Exhibition of Chinese Modern Art in 1980s, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, China
  • Du: the Expressions of Contemporary SHUIMO Art, Huitai Art Centre, Tianjin, China

2005

  • Wang Chuan & Wang Dalin, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
  • Contemporary Art Exhibition of Zhujiang Delta, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
  • The Act of Writing and of Non-writing: The Open Space for Chinese Calligraphy: International Exhibition of Modern Calligraphy 2005 Hangzhou China, West Lake Art Museum, Hangzhou, China
  • Retrospection of Experimental Ink & Wash 1985-2000, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China

2004

  • 4th International Ink Painting Biennial of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
  • Beyond Representation, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong       

2000

  • 2nd International Ink Painting Biennial of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China

1999

  • Chineseche Tuschmalerel, Herrenhof Mussback, Germany

1998

  • Looking East, Goldstrom Gallery, New York, USA

1997 

  • Chinese Abstraction and Beyond, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
  • Modern Ink Painting Art in China, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

1996

  • Artistic Trend of Modern Chinese Ink and Wash in the Late 20th Century, Guangzhou, China
  • Returning to Homeland, Gallery on the RIM, San Francisco, USA

1995

1993   

  • Chinese Fine Arts in 1990s, Sichuan Museum of Art, Chengdu, China
  • New Arts in China Post 1989, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong

1992   

  • 2nd Exhibition of Modern Chinese Art, Guangzhou, China
  • 1st Biennial Exhibition of Chinese Art, Guangzhou, China

1990

  • Hong Kong Singapore Art Fair ’90, Singapore

1986

  • Street Exhibition-O, Shenzhen, China
  • New Wave in Art Seminar, Guangzhou, China

1988

  • Aspetti Della Pittura Chinese Contemporanea, Ferrara Art Museum, Italy
  • Words, Words, Words, Hanart Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan; Hong Kong

1989

  • China’s Avant-Garde, Beijing, China
  • Blackness, Hanart Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan; Hong Kong


SELECTED AWARDS
1980    2nd Award, National Young Artists Exhibition, Beijing, China
1981    Two Excellent Awards, Sichuan Province Fine Arts Exhibition, Chengdu, China
1983    Award in the National Workers Art Exhibition, Beijing, China
Award in the National Railway Art Exhibition, Beijing, China
1986    Artistic Contribution Award, Shenzhen, China
1989    Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 8 large scale paintings (acrylic on canvas) commissioned
1992    Award, Oil Painting Section, First Biennial Exhibition of Chinese Art, China


SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, USA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
Ferrara Art Museum, Italy
Norway National Art Museum, Norway
Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen,China
He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen,China
Liu Haishu Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
AIG, Hong Kong