Jian-Jun Zhang
New York City, USA
About the Artist
Zhang Jian-Jun (张健君) is an internationally known artist with exhibits worldwide, having recent shows in China, the United States, and Europe, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the China National Art Museum in Beijing; Shanghai Art Museum Biennale; Venice Biennale, Italy; Gwangju Biennale, Korea; Power Station of Contemporary Art, Shanghai; National Contemporary Art Museum, Rome, Italy; Dresden National Art Museum, Germany; Caixi Forum Museum, Barcelona and Madrid; Pera Museum, Istanbul; Royal Academy of Arts, London, England, to name a few.
Teaching at NYU in New York since 1997, Professor Zhang has received many honors and grants including First Prize at the First Shanghai Youth Art Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum (1986); the Asia Cultural Council Fellowship (1987-1988); two Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grants; two New York Foundation for the Art Fellowships (2007 and 2014); Artist-in-Residence, Royal Academy of Arts and K11 Art Foundation (2019), etc. Zhang has been an Assistant Director & Head of the Art Research Department of the Shanghai Art Museum (1986-1989).
Artist Statement
“The influence of Dao (Taoism) and Zen on my artistic creation is obvious, whether referring to the “有 (Existence/Noumenon)” series of works that I began in the early 1980s or the "Vestiges of a Process" series that continues to this day. They intuitively capture existence and metaphysical meditation in intervention with the real world. Rubbing is an imprinting technique unique to traditional Chinese culture and ancient civilization. “Rubbing Sun” and “Rubbing Rain” are impossible by laws of natural physics, but can be presented aesthetically, by which the fluid conversion between concrete and abstract forms present a poetic philosophy.
In 2011, I was creating “Rubbing Sun” at Venice Beach in Los Angeles, United States, using water to trace the sun’s blaze to achieve a balance between fire and water. In this work, the sun acts as a medium element, alongside rice paper, the water used for marking, and the process itself (time). At the same time, as part of this rubbing process, I also converged with nature - with the sun, water, and air... Of course, the image of the sun I rubbed was also the same as the setting sun that gradually disappears from our sight, presenting a moment of process, but we know from our experience that this is a cycle of eternity. At the same time, the creative process for “Rubbing Sun” exhibits the human imprint on nature. Forty years ago, I read Lao-Tze, Zhuangzi (Daoist authors), and from this I understood the sun, the moon, and chaos; then I looked at Huai Su and Zhang Xu's ink calligraphy, and felt the rhythm of nature, and perceived the vigour of humanity; James Turrell’s works truly appreciate the kind of humility found in man's confrontation with nature, and understand the so-called “四兩撥千金” (On a balance scale, a light object can equal an enormous weight). Everything is in process, and the path of transformation constitutes my art form. Creating works is simply imagination and genuine appearance.” - Jian-Jun Zhang
