Zhang Xiaogang is internationally recognized as one of China's most talented painters. For more than a decade, Zhang has been painting an evolving series of oil paintings based on old family photographs taken during the Cultural Revolution. The series, "Bloodlines: Big Family," began in the early 1990s and has become his trademark style. In 2007, one of his paintings sold at auction for $3.8 million, one of the highest prices ever paid for a work by a living Chinese artist. After graduating from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts in the 1980s, Zhang was one of the leaders of the so-called "Sichuan School" of painters who specialized in surrealistic, folkloric and deeply psychological works. Later, he developed a more subtle and colorful style, painting what he calls "false portraits" that explore the tension between the public and private lives of people in China during and after the Cultural Revolution. In his work, Zhang makes clever use of shadows, blurred edges and watery eyes in his characters. The characters often have identical facial features, hinting at the collective nature of the Chinese family and culture.

Biography

1958 Born in Kunming

1982 Graduated from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute

Now he lives and works in Beijing

Solo Exhibitions

2014

"Zhang Xiaogang: Memory +ing", Daegu Art Museum, Korea, June 14—September 10, 2014

"Zhang Xiaogang's Oil on Paper", Pace Hong Kong, May 14—July 12, 2014 (Catalogue)

2013

"Zhang Xiaogang", Pace Gallery, 508 and 510 West 25tj Street, New York, March 29—April 27, 2013 (Catalogue)

2012

"Beijing Voice: Zhang Xiaogang", Pace Beijing, December 13, 2012—February 28, 2013 (Brochure and Catalogue)

2010

"Zhang Xiaogang: 16:9", Today Art Museum, Beijing, December 9—26， 2010 (Catalogue)

2009

"Record”, Pace Beijing The Pace Gallery, Beijing, China

"Zhang Xiaogang: Shadows in the Soul", Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia

2008

"Revision", Pace Wildenstein, New York, U.S.A.

"Chinese Painting: Zhang Xiaogang", Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech

2007

"Zhang Xiaogang", Sara Hilden Art Museum, Tampere, Finland

2006

"Home –Zhang Xiaogang", Beijing Commune, Beijing, China

"Zhang Xiaogang Exhibition", The Art Centre of Tokyo, Japan

"Amnesia and Memory", Artside Gallery, Souel, Korea

2005

"Zhang Xiaogang 2005", Max Protetch Gallery, New York, U.S.A.

2004

"Umbilical Cord of History: Paintings by Zhang Xiaogang", Hanart Gallery, Hong Kong

2003

"Amnesia and Memory", Gallery of France, Paris, France

2000

"Zhang Xiaogang 2000", Max Protetch Gallery, New York, U.S.A.

1999

"Les Camarades", Gallery of France, Paris, France

1998

"Bloodline: The Big Family 1998", Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong

1997

"Bloodline: The Big Family 1997", the Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts,

Beijing, China

1989

"Lost Dreams", Gallery of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing, China

Selected Group Exhibitions

2010

"Beijing-Havana - New Revolution art Contemporary Art "，National Art Museum of Cuba, Havana, Cuba

"Reshaping History - Chinart from 2000 to 2009"，China National Convention Center, Beijing,

"Clouds - Power of Asian Contemporary Art", Soka Art Center, Beijing, China

"The Offical Opening of Minsheng Art Museum Thirsty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art",

Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China

2009

“19 Games-A Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition”, T Art Centre, Beijing, China

“A Gift to Marco Polo”, Venice International University, Venice, Italy

“INAMANIA” , Arken Musuem, Copenhagen, Denmark

2008

"Case Studies of Artists in Art History and Art Criticism", SZ Art Center, Beijing, China

"Our Future: The Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation Collection", Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China

"Avant-Garde China: Twenty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art", Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

"Waiting on the Wall: Chinese New Realism and Avant-Garde in Eighties and Nineties, Groningen Museum, Groningen, The Netherlands

2007

"China – Facing Reality", Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, Austria

"From Southeast", Guangdong Museum of Fine Art, Guangzhou, China

"Black White Gray – A Conscious Cultural Stance", Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

"85 New Wave: The Birth of Chinese Contemporary Art", Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China

2006

"The Blossoming of Realism – The Oil Painting from Mainland China since 1978", Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei

"Reinventing Books in Chinese Contemporary Art", China Institute, New York, U.S.A.

"Jiang Hu – Chinese Contemporary Art European and American Traveling Exhibition", Tilton Gallery, New York, U.S.A.

"Food and Desire", South Silk Restaurant, Beijing, China

"China Now: Fascination of a Changing World", SAMMLUNG ESSL Museum, Vienna, Austria

2005

"The 2nd  Guangzhou Triennial", Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China

"Take Off – An Exhibition of the Contemporary Art Collection in the He Xiangning Art Museum

"Contemporary Art Terminal", He Xiangning Art Museum, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, China

"Always to the Front – Chinese Contemporary Art", Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei

"Plato and His Seven Spirits", OCT Contemporary Art Center, Shenzhen, China

2004

"The 5th Shanghai Biennial", Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

"Face to Face", Accor Gallery, Taiwan

"China Now", Tang Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand

"Three Worlds", Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China

"China, the body everywhere?", Museum of Contemporary Art, Marseilles, France

2003

"From China with Art", Indonesian National Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesian

"3Face 3Colors", Artside Gallery, Seoul, Korea

"Open Sky – Contemporary Art Exhibition", Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China

"The East Daybreak: 100 Years of Chinese Painting", Africa Museum, Paris, France

2002

"A Point in Time", Changsha Meilun Museum of Art, Changsha, China

"14 Chinese Artists / Made in China", Enrico Navarra Gallery, Paris, France

"BABEL 2002", National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea

"The 1st Triennial of Chinese Art", Guangdong Museum of Fine Arts, Guangzhou, China

"In Memory: The Art of After War", Sidney Mishkin Gallery, New York, U.S.A.

"East + West – Contemporary Art of China", Kunstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria

2001

"The 1st Chengdu Biennial", Chengdu Contemporary Art Museum, Chengdu, China

"Dream – 2001 Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition", The Red Mansion, London, U.K.

"Towards A New Image: Twenty Years of Contemporary Chinese Art", National Art Museum of

China, Beijing; Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; Sichuan Art Museum, Chengdu; Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China

"It’s me, It’s us", Gallery of France, Paris, France

"Hot Pot", Artist Center of Oslo, Norway

The 3rd Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre, Brazil

2000

"Man+SPACE: Kwangju Biennale 2000", Kwangju, Korea

"Transcending Boundaries", Montclair State University, New Jersey, U.S.A.

"Portraits De China Contemporaine", Espace Culturel Francois Mitterrand, Perigueux, France

"The First Collection Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art", Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

"Hundred Years of Chinese Oil Painting", National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

"Contemporary Art of China", Picardie Museum, Amiens, France

1999

"1999 Art China", LIMN Gallery, San Francisco, U.S.A.

"Faces: Entre Portrait et Anonymat", Maison de la Culture Namur, Belgium

"Inside Out: New Chinese Art", Asia Society and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, U.S.A.

1998

"China New Art", Helsinki Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland

"Exhibition of International Contemporary Art Collection", Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Brussels, Belgium

"Exhibition of Collection of Shenghe Gallery", Chengdu, China

"Margaret and Contemporary Art", Dostende Contemporary Museum, Belgium

1997

"China New Art", Lisbon Museum of Art, Portugal

"Faces and Bodies from Middle Kingdom: Chinese Art of the 90s", Prague Art Museum, Prague,

Czech Republic

"8+8-1: 15 Chinese Artists", Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong

"Quotation Marks: Chinese Contemporary Paintings", Modern Art Museum, Singapore

"Red and Grey: Eight Avant-Garde Chinese Artists", Soobin Art Gallery, Singapore

"Hundred Years of Chinese Portrait", National Art Museum of China, Beijing, Chin

1996

"China! New Art & Artists ", Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany

"Reckoning with the Past: Contemporary Chinese Paintings", Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, U.K.

"The Second Asia-Pacific of Contemporary Triennial", Queensland Art Gallery, Queensland,

Australia

"4 Points de Rencontre. Chine,1996", France Gallery, Pairs, French

"The 1st Academic Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art", National Art Museum of China,

Beijing; Hong Kong Art Center, Hong Kong, China

"Reality: Present and Future", Beijing International Art Museum, Beijing, China

1995

The 46th Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy

"China New Arts", Vancouver Art Museum, Vancouver, Canada

"Chinese Contemporary Art", Hamburg, Germany

“Des del Pais del Centre:avantguardes artistiques xineses”, Barcelona Contemporary Art Museum, Barcelona, Spain

1994

“22nd International Biennial of São Paulo”, St.Paul, Brazil

1993

"Chinese New Art from Post—1989", Hong Kong Art Center, Hong Kong

"Mao Goes Pop – China Post-89", Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia

"Chinese Fine Arts in 1990s: Experiences in Fine Arts of China", Sichuan Art Gallery, Chengdu,

China

1992

"The Guangzhou Biennial: Oil Paintings from the 90’s", Guangzhou, China

"Documentary Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art", Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing,

Shenyang, Shanghai and Nanjing, China

1991

"I Don’t Want to Play Cards with Cézanne", Pacific Asia Museum, California, U.S.A.

1989

"China Avant-Garde", National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

1988

"Art from Southeast of China", Chengdu, China

1987

"Modern Art of China", National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

1985

"Neo-Realism", Shanghai and Nanjing, China

Collections

Upriver Gallery, Chengdu, China

Dongyu Museum of Fine Arts, Shenyang, China

Shanghai Art Museum, China

Shenzhen Art Museum, China

Shenzhen He Xiangning Art Museum, China

Shenzhen OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, China

Hubei Academy of Fine Arts, China

Hong Kong International Conference & Exhibition, China

National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea

Fukuoka Museum of Art, Japan

Okinawa Museum of Art, Japan

Guggenheim Museum of Art, U.S.A.

Asia & Pacific Art Museum, U.S.A.

Logan Collection-San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, U.S.A.

Queensland Art Museum, Australia

National Gallery of Australia, Australia

The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Saint-denis Art Museum, Paris, France

Gasworks Art Foundation, England

Coutt's Art Foundation, England

Picardie National Museum Amiens, France

Peter Stuyvesant Art Foundation, The Netherlands