BIOGRAPHY
ZHAN WANG
(1962 - Present)
Zhang Wang is a Chinese sculptor. His career as an iconoclast began with In a Twinkling (1993), an installation of superrealist figurative sculptures. Although he is best known for being a contemporary Chinese sculptor, he is also known in other art forms such as installations, photography, and video. His pieces consist of conceptual ideas where he "embraces and subverts several other major traditions in modern art, both Chinese and Euro-American. Many of his works include the use of simplistic objects that serve a purpose of telling a complex idea. Many of his ideas that are expressed through his works pertain to Chinese culture. In 1993, he was featured in his first exhibit and since then he has been showcased in over 125 exhibits, 24 of which were solo exhibitions.
1962
Born in Beijing, China
1978 - 1981
Graduated from Beijing Industrial Arts College, Beijing, China
1983 - 1988
Graduated from Sculpture Department, Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing, China
2000
100 Global Most Discussed Artists Art Handbook
2006
Martell Extraordinary Artist Award
Currently lives and works in Beijing
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
2012
Universe, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore (solo)
Zhan Wang: My Personal Universe, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (solo)
2011
Voyages, National Museum of China, Beijing, China (solo
The Emperors Private Paradise, Treasures From The Forbidden City, Milwaukee Art Museum, USA
Louis Vuitton, Voyages, National Museum of China, Beijing
Urben Arcadia, MOT/ARTS, Taipei (solo)
2009 - 2011
Vancouver Biennale, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
2010
Art for the World: the Sculpture Project of the EXPO Boulevaro World, Shanghai 2010, Shanghai EXPO, China (group)
Suyuan Stone Generator 1 Hour Equals 100 Million Years, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China (solo)
One Hour Equals 100 Million Years, Suyuan Stone Generator, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China (solo)
Reflection, Eslite Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan (solo)
2009
Vancouver Biennale, Vancouver, Canada
The Paramount, A Collective Portrait of Asian Contemporary Art, Boao Asian Contemporary Art Exhibition, Boao Asian Forum International meeting Center, Hainan, China
Contemporary Sculpture in the Historic, Bad Homburg Kurpark and Castle Gardens, Germany (group)
Art and Rocks: Nature Found and Made, ArtFarm, Chambers Fine Art, Salt Point, NY
2008
Garden Utopia, National Museum of China, Beijing, China (solo)
Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA (solo)
Zhan Wang, Albion Gallery, London, UK (solo)
On Gold Mountain: Sculptures from the Sierra, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA (solo)
The Revolution Continues, New Chinese Art, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2007
Recapture History, Contemporary Chinese Art From the Collection, Guangdong Museum of Fine Arts, Guangzhou, China
The Power of the Universe, The Frontier of Contemporary Chinese Art, Asia Art Center, Beijing, China
Contemporary Cultural Venation - China Version 2007 Credit Suisse Reincarnation, Doris Mcarthy Gallery University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, USA (group)
China Under Construction: Contemporary Art from the People's Republic, Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, TX
Temptations, The Columns, Seoul, Korea
2006
The Festival of China, The Kennedy Center, Washington D.C
Electrical Scape, International New Media Art Exhibition, Zheng Da Art Museum, Shanghai
Chinese in Indigenous Mode: Contemporary Renaissance in Aesthetic Reconstruction, Today Art Museum, Beijing
The New Chinese Landscape, Arthur M Sackler Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
ZHAN WANG Urban Landscape-Beijing, Williams College Museum of Art (solo)
2005
The Elegance of Silence, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
Universal Experience--Art, Life, and the Tourists Eyes, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Haywood Gallery, London
The Wall-- Reshaping Contemporary Chinese Art, Millennium Art Museum, Beijing; UB Art Gallery and Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
Flowers in the Mirror, Han art Gallery, Hong Kong (solo)
ElectroScape, International New Media Art Exhibition, Zhengdai MoMa, Shanghai
Xianfeng! Chinese avant-garde sculpure, Museum Beelden aan Zee/Waanders Uitgevers
On The Edge Visiting Artists Program, Cantor Center for the Visual Arts, San-, USA
The Elegance of Silence, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
Universal Experience- Art, Life, and the Tourists Eye, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
2004
Mount Everest Project, to the Summit Everest 8853.5m (solo)
Chinese Imagination, Paris, Jardin des Tuileries
Beyond Boundaries, Shanghai Gallery of Art
Between Past and Future : New photography and Video from China, International Center of P hotograph (ICP), NewYork
Playing with the Energy, House of Shiseido, Tokyo
2003
Dreams and Conflicts-The Dictatorship of the Viewer
50th Venice Biennale: Synthi-Scapes: Chinese Pavilion
2002
From Sweden to Taibei, Taibei-Taizhong (solo)
Sham Nature--Zhan Wangs Artificial Jiashanshi, Han art Gallery, Hong Kong (solo)
In & out --Floating Rock on Sweden, Gothenburg, Sweden (solo)
2001
Inlay Great Wall, Remnant Great wall of Badaling, Beijing (solo)
Sham Nature : Zhan Wangs Artificial Jiashanshi, Hanart Gallery, Hongkong
Insaid out: Floating Rock on Sweden, Gothenbog, Sweden
2000
Beyond Twelve Nautical Miles: Floating Rock Drifts On The Open Sea, Lingshan Island Jiaonan City, Shandong Provence
1999
Volume and Form, Singapore International Sculpture, Singapore
Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century, The Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Chinese Contemporary Art, LIMN Gallery, San Francisco, California, USA
1998
Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Sculpture, He Xiang Ning Museum, Shenzhen, China
Building Blocks, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing, China
A Revelation of 20 Years of Contemporary Chinese Art, Workers Cultural Palace, Beijing, China
Commemorating Life, Jinshan, Taiwan
Half a Century of Footprints, Central Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Beijing, China
Autonomous Action, Art Space Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Signs of Life: Group Exhibition of Modern Chinese Art, Modern Art Studio, Beijing, China
1997
Continue, Central Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Beijing, China
The First Sculpture Activities in Guilin Dayanggu Art Palace, Guilin, China
Dream of China 1997: Chinese Contemporary Art, Yan Huang Art Museum, Beijing, China
Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Watari-UM, Tokyo, Japan
Forever Return 1997: Nanshan Sculpture Exhibition, Nanshun Sculpture Institute, Shenzhen, China
1996
The First Exhibition in Mountain-Forest Sculpture Park, Huar Rou, Beijing, China
International Sculpture Wild: Open Show, Fukouka Seaside Park, Fukouka, Japan
The First Academic Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Artists, Hong Kong Art Center, Hong Kong
Reality, Present and Future, International Art Place, Beijing, China
1995
Womans Her: The Second Triplicate Studio Exhibition, Contemporary Art Gallery, Beijing, China
1994
Vacant Empty- Seduction Series, Works of Zhan Wang, CAFA Gallery, Beijing (solo)
Agree to 11/26 as a Reason: Postcard Exchange, Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing
Kong Ling Kong Seduction Series: Works of Zhan Wang, Central Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Beijing, China
1993
Taiwan, Beijing, Two Sides of Straits: Sculpture Exchange, Gao Xiaong Art Gallery, Taiwan and Beijing, China