Zhan Wang was born in 1963 in Beijing, China. Since his childhood, Wang was fond of drawing. Once a young adult, Wang spent three and a half years studying sculpture at Beijing Industrial Arts College. Wang expanded his awareness of art by taking courses with teachers from the Fine Arts College and even spent time practicing his drawing skills by copying Buddha figures in Buddhist temples. Zhan Wang’s first significant works date to 1988, and are traditional in nature. In 1990 Wang began experimenting with surrealism. In 1994, he exhibited the “Mao Suit” series for the first time and in 1995, he created the “Artificial Rocks” series. In 1996 Wang graduated from the Sculpture Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), where he currently teaches sculpture. In 2010, Zhan Wang created the “My Personal Universe” series. Zhan Wang’s latest solo exhibition was entitled “Zhan Wang: Objects of Idea”, showing 22 works of different creative directions from 1988.
Bibliography:
Wang, Alice. “Zhan Wang: Master Sculptor”. ARTZINE, A Chinese Contemporary Art Portal. 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20120310022556/http://new.artzinechina.com/display.php?a=200
Central Academy of Fine Arts. “RTSM | ZHAN Wang: It was already the doomsday, but I’m back to reality again.”. 2020. https://www.cafa.com.cn/en/News/details/8330204.
Sheri Lullo
So it sounds as thought Zhan has worked through many media and forms of art presentation. I wonder if there are some concepts or philosophical ideas that he worked with early that continue to have resonance in his later work? Think about larger ideas that he addresses as you consider an exhibition topic.