Ren Tianjin

1962
Shanghai , China
Ren Tianjin studied under Wang Dongling at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, where he earned a Doctor of Fine Arts. He later obtained a Doctor of Business Administration from Grenoble Ecole de Management in France and currently serves as a Researcher at the Modern Calligraphy Research Centre at the China Academy of Art and a Fellow at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.
 
Since the 1990s, Ren has lived and worked in both China and the US, engaging in innovative artistic practices that encompass Chinese calligraphy, painting, and sculpture. One of his most significant works, "East Wind," a sculpture shaped to resemble cursive Chinese calligraphy spelling out “east wind” (東風), was displayed at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in 2022. The work featured in Word Play at Alisan Fine Arts in 2024 is a recent creation from the same series.
 
Ren's works are part of esteemed collections at renowned museums, art schools, and institutions, including the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Art Institute of Chicago, the China Academy of Art, the Shanghai Industrial Investment Group, the Ping An Group, the Dongyuan Group in Beijing, and Aston Martin Lagonda Limited in
the UK.


BIOGRAPHY

1962 Born in Shanghai, China
1980s A Doctor of Fine Arts, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China studied under Wang Dongling
A Doctor of Business Administration, Grenoble Ecole de Management, France 
1990s Started living and worked in China and USA
2018
Lectured “Art and Collection”, Hang Seng Bank, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, China

2020 Lectured, Boao International Design and Art Summit, Hainan, China
Lectured “Creativity of Broken Circumstances: Innovative Creation of Contemporary Art”, Sichuan Conservatory of Music, Sichuan, China

2021 Teacher of Training Workshop, EaDe School, Xi’an, China
Interview, TIF Talk, Shanghai Television Station, Shanghai, China
Lectured “Comparative Study of Innovative Creation in Contemporary Art”, WS Space, Shanghai, China

Lectured “Innovation from Dot & Line Diagrams”, EaDe School, Xi’an, China

Lectured "Art Innovation", Moleskine Store, K11, Shanghai, China

2023 Lectured “Modern Integration of Traditional Culture from Chinese Calligraphy”, Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, Wuhan, China

Lectured “The Art of Communication”, Tian Yu Kong Creative Festival, Beijing, China

Present Lives and works in China and USA
Researcher, Modern Calligraphy Research Centre, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
Fellow, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, USA

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025
  • Works by Ren Tianjin, 216 Space, Beijing, China
  • The Luminous Path, Porsche Centre, Shanghai, China
2019
  • Beautiful Is In the Wind: Ren Tianjin Exhibition, Aston Martin House of Beautiful, Shanghai, China

2020

  • Inquiry on Water: Ren Tianjin, Jiu Zhang Fu, Hangzhou, China
  • 2021
    Universal Resonance: Ren Tianjin, The School of Art and Design of Eurasia University, Xi’an, China

 

SELECTED  GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024     

2023     
  • Art 021, Shanghai, China
  • Asian Art in London, London, UK
  • The Road of Calligraphy Education: 60th Anniversary Exhibition of Higher Education in Chinese Calligraphy, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
  • Diaoyutai Hotel, Qingdao, China

2022

  • Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA
  • Gilding of Summer Poetry, Brics Tower, Shanghai, China
  • Abstract Art New Shanghai, Young Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2021
  • Yellow Box Open Exhibition: International Sculpture Exhibition, Yellow Box Art Museum, Qingdao, China
  • Unforgettable Sight: Longmen Grottoes Art Dialogue Special Exhibition, Shanghai University Museum, Shanghai, China
2020
  • The Collection of Biennial Exhibition of Lanting Calligraphy Association, Zhejiang Exhibition Hall, Hangzhou, China
  • Step by Step… Long Journey, Art Museum of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
  • 2nd Zhejiang International Youth Art Festival, Art Museum of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China

2019

  • Ink Now, Suning Art Museum, Shanghai, China
  • Writing Non-Writing Hangzhou International Modern Calligraphy Festival, Art Museum of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
  • Nowhere • Anywhere, WS Space, Shanghai, China
  • 2nd Sculpture Projects, Pingyao, China

2018

  • The Artistic Creation and Practice Exhibition of Celebrating the 40th Reform Anniversary, Art Museum of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
  • Biennial Exhibition of Lanting Calligraphy Association, Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China
  • China-ASEAN Calligraphy Exchanges Exhibition, Guangxi Art Museum, Nanning, China
  • Experiencing China, Art Museum of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China 

 

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA
Aston Martin Lagonda, UK
Gold Ascent Enterprises Limited, Singapore
Diaoyutai Hotel, Qingdao, China
BYD Center, Handan, China
Porsche Center, Handan, China
Dowell Group, Shanghai, China
Ping An Group, Shenzhen, China


 

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