Jian-Jun Zhang
Jian-Jun Zhang is considered an innovator in contemporary Asian art. Referred to as an astute observer of time, he explores the elemental fabric of historical and cultural ideology. Zhang’s conceptual installations not only reflect a unique interpretation of landscape; he also often demonstrates the transience and mutability of the urban environment by introducing a variety of mediums.
Zhang graduated from the Shanghai Drama Institute’s Fine Arts Department in 1978, and has since become a Professor of Fine Art at New York University in Shanghai. He also participated in the International Curatorial Program at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and was employed as an Assistant Director and head of the Curatorial Department of the Shanghai Art Museum.
Series
Works in the exhibition Jade Mountain & Ink River, Christian Duvernois Gallery, May 20 – July 10, 2015
Flowing Water
Misty Rain
Pond
“Human beings, besides needing material objects, need spiritual nourishment. That is the source of art. As humans, we need both sides to make a balance for life.
In my art, I focus on different cultures from around the world, and the exchange and integration of these cultures. This reflects our historical reality moving towards the present and future.”
2015 “Jade Mountain & Ink River,” Christian Duvernois Gallery, New York, New York, USA
2015 “1980’s: 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 Gallery, 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
2003 “Mountain & River,” Art Projects International Gallery, New York, New York, USA
2002 “Sumi-Ink Garden of Re-Creation,” He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
2002 “Vestiges of a Process,” Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
1997 “Footprint,” Gallerie Deux, Tokyo, Japan
1995 “Water & Fire,” Art Projects International, New York, New York, USA
1989 “Nature • Human,” Nerlino Gallery, New York, New York, USA
1988 “Water,” Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA
1987 “Nature,” Shanghai Art Museum, China
2015 “Force 12 Hurricane: Ming Gathering,” Ming Yuan Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2014 “Experimental Art,” The 12th China National Art Exhibition, Today Museum, Beijing, China
2014 “Sempre Natura,” Christian Duvernois Gallery, New York, New York, USA
2014 “China Arte Brazil,” OCA, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2014 “Contemporary Chinese Prints,” Pace Prints Gallery, New York, New York, USA
2013 “Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
2013 “Portrait of the Times: 30 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art,” Power Station of Art,
Shanghai, China
2013 “Insightful Charisma,” Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai, China
2013 “Voice of the Unseen: Chinese Independent Art 1979 – Today,” Arsenale, Venice Biennale Collateral Exhibition, Venice, Italy
2012 “Culture Shanghai: A Return Oriented Towards the Future,” Shanghai Sculpture Space, Shanghai, China
2012 “A New Spirit in Ink: An Exhibition of Cutting Edge Ink Art,” Zendai Contemporary Art Space, Shanghai, China
2011 “Celestial Abstraction,” Contemporary Art Museum, Rome, Italy
2011 “ShanShui,” Kunstmuseum, Lucern, Switzerland
2010 “Celestial Abstraction,” National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
2010 “Shanghai,” Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, California, USA
2009 “Chinese Gardens for Living,” Europalia, China International Arts Festival, Brussels, Belgium
2008 “Mountain & Water,” Dresden Art Museum, Dresden, Germany
2008 “China Abstract Painting 30 Years,” Caixa Forum Museum, Barcelona & Madrid, Spain
2007 “Asia/Europa Mediation,” Poznan National Museum of Art, Poznan, Poland
2006 “Entry Gate: Chinese Aesthetics of Heterogeneity,” 1st Envisage, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, China
2005 “Flowing River: 30 Years of Chinese Oil Painting,” National Art Museum, Beijing, China
2004 “A Grain of Dust A Drop of Water,” The 5th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, Korea
2003 “Breathe,” New York University Gallery, New York, New York, USA
2002 “Urban Creation,” The Fourth Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2001 “Markers,” Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
2000 “Construction in Process VII: This Earth is a Flower,” The International Artists’ Museum, Lodz, Poland
1996 “Open Space,” The First Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, China
1993 “93NY50,” Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, New York, USA
1992 “Conversations,” The Artists’ Museum, Lodz, Poland
1989 Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1989 Han Art Gallery, Hong Kong
1989 “China/Avant Garde,” China National Art Gallery, Beijing, China
1988 “Last Supper” performance, Shanghai Art Museum, China
1987 Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California, USA
1986 “First Shanghai Young Artists Competition Exhibition,” Shanghai Art Museum, China
1983 “Painting Experiment,” Fudan University Faculty Center, Shanghai, China
1978 “Wild Roses,” Shanghai Drama Institute, China
Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Dow Jones Company, New Jersey, USA
JP Morgan, Hong Kong M+ Museum for Visual Culture, Hong Kong, China
San Francisco Asian Art Museum, California, USA
Shanghai Art Museum, China
Uli Sigg Collection, Switzerland
Frederick R. Weisman Foundation of Art, California, USA
Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China
White Rabbit Collection, Sydney, Australia