Zhang Jian-jun

1955

Shanghai , China

Zhang Jian-Jun is an abstract artist preoccupied by the themes of existence, time, space, and transformation, and their effects on individuals and culture. He began to pursue abstract painting in the 1980s, with the Chinese ink and mixed media paintings from his 1985 “Existence” series typifying the ‘rationalistic painting’ of the Chinese avant-garde movement. He gained recognition for the oil painting Human Beings with Their Clock (1986), depicting human confrontation with the limitations of existence within the space and time continuum. Zhang furthered his studies in the United States in the 1990s and has since shifted his focus to installation art and an exploration of cultural differences between East and West. His Elemental Ink series experiments with Chinese ink and the elements of fire, water and wood (rice paper). As an ink painter, ink could arguably constitute the fourth element of air, as the life (breath) of an artist is inextricably linked to his practice.

Zhang graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy’s Department of Fine Arts in 1978. In the same year, he was honoured with an Asian Culture Council Rockefeller Fellowship, and in 1990 with a grant from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, USA. In 2019, Zhang Jianjun received the Residency Artist Program Award jointly organized by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and the K11 Foundation. From 2019 to 2021, his significant traveling solo exhibition titled Human Traces journeyed from the Royal Academy of Arts in London, UK, to the Chi K11 Art Museum in Shanghai, then to Shenyang, and finally to Hong Kong.

He also had solo exhibitions in various locations such as New York, Germany, Japan, and Singapore. These include Brooklyn Museum, Harvard University in Cambridge; Pace Prints in New York, USA, Shanghai Art Museum in Shanghai, and Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou. Additionally, he has participated in major group exhibitions including Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions at Asia Society Texas, Houston in 2023; Ink Worlds at the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University in 2018; Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 2013; Flowing River: 30 Years of Chinese Oil Painting at National Art Museum of China, Beijing in 2005; International Arts Festival Dusseldorf in 1995; and ’83 Experimental Painting Exhibition at Fudan University, Shanghai in 1983.

His work is included in major collections such as the Brooklyn Museum, New York; San Francisco Asian Art Museum, California; M+ Museum, Hong Kong; Guangdong Museum of Art, China; Shanghai Art Museum, China; and Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China.

BIOGRAPHY
1955   Born in Shanghai, China
1978   Fine Arts Department, Shanghai Theater Academy, China
1986-89 Director of the Curatorial and Art Research Department, Shanghai Art Museum, China
1987-89 Assistant Director, Shanghai Art Museum, China
1995-2002 Curatorial Advisor, Shanghai Art Museum, China
1996-2000 Member, Artistic Advisory Committee, First Shanghai Biennial, Shanghai Art Museum, China
1997-2013 Adjunct Professor, New York University, New York, USA
2000   Member, Artistic Advisory Committee, Third Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, China
Participant, International Curatorial Workshop, Museum of Modern Art, New York
2005 Member, Artistic Advisory Committee, Sixth Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, China
2013   Associate Professor, New York University Shanghai Campus, Shanghai, China
2019 Awarded Artist in Residence, K11 Art Foundation & Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK; Hong Kong
2020   Professor at New York University Shanghai Campus, Shanghai, China
Present   Lives in Venice (Los Angeles), USA

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019-2021

Zhang Jian-Jun: Human Traces Travelling Exhibition, Royal Academy Schools, London, UK; Chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai; Chi K11 Art Museum, Shenyang, China; K11 HACC, Hong Kong

2017

Between Then and Now, OCAT Xi’An, Xi'an, China

2016

Water • Quintessence, Pearl Lam Gallery, Shanghai, China

2015

China Chapter, Galerie Albrecht, Berlin, Germany
Jade Mountain & Ink River, Christian Duvernois Gallery, New York, USA
1980s: Zhang Jian-Jun’s Early Artwork (1978-1988), Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China
Nature and Beyond, Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
Water • Ink • China, Pace Prints, New York, USA

2014

Nature, Art Projects International, New York, USA

2012

Forms • Water • Vestiges, Pavilion of Repose Garden, Kunshan, China

2011

Water, 99 Art Center at M50, Shanghai, China

2007

Alternative Landscape, 140 sqm Gallery, Shanghai, China
Mirage Garden Part 6 (in collaboration with Barbara Edelstein), South Beauty Garden, Shanghai, China
Vestiges of a Process: New York, Shanghai, New Village, iPreciation Gallery, Singapore

2005

Vestiges of a Process, Asian American Art Centre, New York, USA
Garden of Wishing Trees (in collaboration with Barbara Edelstein), Maiden Lane Exhibition Space, New York, USA

2004

Vestiges of a Process: Chelsea Chapter, DTW Gallery, New York, USA

2003

Mountain & River, Art Projects International Gallery, New York, USA

2002

Chinese Ink Garden of Re-Creation, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Vestiges of a Process: Guangzhou Chapter, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
China Chapter, Museum of Shenzhen Art Institute, Shenzhen, China

2001

Art Projects International Gallery, New York, USA

1997

Footprint, Gallerie Deux, Tokyo, Japan

1995

Art Projects International Gallery, New York, USA

1994

The Paradox of the Fish, Gallery Contempo, New York, USA

1989

Nerlino Gallery, New York, USA

1988

Existence, Kay Garvey Gallery, Glen Ellyn, Illinois, USA
Harvard University, Boston, USA

1987

Shanghai Art Museum, China

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024

Light, Space and Time, Alisan Fine Arts-New York, New York, USA

2023

Ink Alchemy: Beyond Tradition, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions, Asia Society Texas, Houston, USA

2021

2020

Waves and Echoes: A Process of Re-contemporarization in Chinese Art Circa 1987 Revisited, Inside-out Art Museum, Beijing, China
Shanghai Waves Historical Archives and Works of Shanghai Biennial, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
Ineffable Garden: Zhang Jian-Jun & Barbara Edelstein, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
Contemporary Forms of Ink Painting, Alisan Fine Arts, Art Basel Online Viewing Rooms, Hong Kong

2019

Arts of China: New Acquisitions, Asian Galleries, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
30 Years of Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition, Waigaoqiao Cultural Art Centre, Shanghai, China
Out of Ink: Interpretations from Chinese Contemporary Art, Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey

2018

Asian Cultural Council Fellows Annual Exhibition 2018: A Charity Exhibition of Works by ACC Alumni, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
Between Human and Water, Zhu Jia Jiao Contemporary Art 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, Stanford University, Stanford, USA
Blurred Horizons, Art Projects International Gallery, 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
Extension at Sea: Installation, Concept, Image, Video, China Art Museum, Shanghai, China

2016

Under Heaven: Contemporary Art from China in the Ahmanson Collection, Ahmanson Gallery, Irvine, California, USA
White Grey Black, Gallerie Canvas International Art, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Water & Ink: Tradition in the Contemporary Art, China Cultural Center in Brussels, Belgium
Chinese Whispers, Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland
Wu-U Speech: Artists Living in Shanghai, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

2015

View from Shanghai, Cloud Art Museum, Shanghai, China
30 Years of Contemporary Shanghai Art, Sheshan Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China
Force 12 Hurricane: Ming Gathering, Ming Yuan Art Museum, Shanghai, China

2014

Pursuing Dream: Shanghai Sculpture Invitational Show, Shanghai Sculpture Space, Shanghai, China
Experimental Art: The 12th China National Art Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
China Arte Brazil, OCA, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Nomads, Ming Yuan Art Centre, Shanghai, China

2013

Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Tutte le strade portano a Roma: 17 artisti contemporanei da Shanghai a Palazzo Brancaccio, Museo Nazionale D’Arte Orientale, Rome, Italy
Yang Shi (Form), Z-Art Center, Shanghai, China
Portrait of the Times: 30 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
Voice of the Unseen: Chinese Independent Art 1979-Today, Arsenale, Venice Bienniale Collateral Exhibition, Venice, Italy
Early Contemporary Art in Shanghai, Baoshan International Art Centre, 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 Doland 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
Line, Art Centre of Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
Water/Ink Biennial, DaFen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Ink Boundary, M50 Art Centre, Shanghai, China

2011

Celestial Abstraction, Contemporary Art Museum, Rome, Italy
20 Years Retrospective Exhibition of 1991 San Diego Chinese Artistic Creation Seminar, Xi'an Art Museum, Xi'an, China
Selected Asian Cultural Council Fellows: Then and Now, Asian Cultural Council; Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
Shan Shui, Kunstmuseum, Lucern, Switzerland
Sofia Paper Biennial, National Gallery of Foreign Art, Sofia, Bulgaria
Nature and Its Modern Forms, Ming Yuan Art Centre, Shanghai, China

2010

Shenzhen International Chinese Ink Biennial, Shenzhen, China
Big Draft - Shanghai, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Speed and Chaos, Ping Yao International Photography Biennial, Ping Yao, China
Vestiges of a Process: Transition, Zendai Contemporary Art Centre, Shanghai, China
Celestial Abstraction, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Shanghai, San Francisco Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 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, Today Art 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
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 Meditation, 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, UK
Entry Gate: Chinese Aesthetics of Heterogeneity, 1st Envisage, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Experimental Ink, Contemporary Art Museum, Tianjin, China
Close to Home, BlockParty Brooklyn, New York, USA

2005

Flowing River: 30 Years of Chinese Oil Painting, National Art Museum of China, 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, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
Poles Apart Poles Together: Markers V, Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy
Anniversary Show, Beijing Film Institute, Beijing, China

2004

Shenzhen International Chinese Ink Biennial, Shenzhen, China
Shanghai Abstract Survey - 50 Years, Ming Yuan Art Center, Shanghai, China
10/20, Lui Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China
A Grain of Dust A Drop of Water: The 5th Gwangju Biennial, Gwangju, Korea

2003

10-Year Anniversary, Art Projects International Gallery, New York, USA
Breathe, New York University Gallery, New York, USA
Diverseworks Art Center, Houston, USA

2002

Urban Creation, Shanghai Biennial, 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

2001

1st Chengdu Biennial, Chengdu, China
Markers, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Metaphysics and Reality, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

2000

Construction in Process VII: This Earth is a Flower, The International Artists’ Museum, Lodz, Poland
Cow Parade, New York, USA
Milestones for Peace, Jerusalem Art Festival, Jerusalem, Israel

1999

Wrap the World, The Kitchen, New York, USA
Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century, Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, USA

1998

Observatoire 4 Galerie, Montreal, Canada
Chinese Artists Working in New York, Purdue University Gallery, Indiana, USA

1997

Bank: Inside the Counting Room, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, USA
Art Projects International Gallery, New York, USA
Sculpture 1997, Connemara Conservancy Sculpture Park, Dallas, USA

1996

Open Space, Shanghai Biennial, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Pennsylvania University Art Museum, Pennsylvania, 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, USA
Natural History Museum, New York, USA

1991

San Diego State University Gallery, California, USA
Annual, Asian American Art Center, New York, USA

1990

East West Contemporary Inc. Gallery, Chicago, USA

1989

China/Avant Garde, China National Art Gallery, Beijing, China

1988

Last Supper performance, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

1987

A State of Transition: Contemporary Paintings from Shanghai, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California, USA

1986

Tokyo Municipal Museum, Tokyo, Japan
First Shanghai Young Artists Competition Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

1985

Annual, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Shanghai Theater Academy Gallery, Shanghai, China

1983

Stage '83: Painting Experiment, with Leng Hong, Li Shan, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

1979-82

Annual, Shanghai Art Museum, China

1978

Wild Roses, Shanghai Theater Academy, China

SELECTED AWARDS & GRANTS
2019 Awarded Artist in Residence, K11 Art Foundation & Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK; Hong Kong
2014 The New York Foundation for the Arts, Gregory Millard Fellowship in Sculpture
2002 The Annie Wong Foundation, Hong Kong
1997 The New York Foundation for the Arts, Sculpture
The Connemara Conservancy, Texas, USA
1996 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, USA
1995 Art Matters Inc., New York, USA
1994 The Djerassi Foundation, Resident Artist Program, California, USA
The Gustavo Nicolich Fellowship and Permanent Collection
1990 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, USA
1987-88 Asian Cultural Council, USA (Create artwork in the US, and to survey contemporary art)
1986 First Prize, The Shanghai Young Artist’s Exhibition, China

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
San Francisco Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA
Frederick R. Weisman Foundation of Art, Los Angeles, USA
Djerassi Foundation Collection, California, USA
Dow Jones Company, New Jersey, USA
Lehman Brothers, New York & Hong Kong, USA
Uli Sigg Collection, Switzerland
International Artists Museum, Lodz, Poland
White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China
Shanghai City Government, Changning District, China
Ink Art Center, Kunshan, China
Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Shenzhen Art Institute, Shenzhen, China
M+, Hong Kong
K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong
JP Morgan, Hong Kong