Zeng Fanzhi (Chinese, born )

Zeng Fanzhi (Chinese, b.1964) is a Contemporary painter, known for his Expressionist paintings laden with psychological and political overtones. Born in Wuhan in the Hubei Province, Zeng studied oil painting at the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts, where he was strongly influenced by German Expressionism. This aesthetic is visible in many of his paintings, including his Hospital, Meat, and Mask works.

His latest paintings, like his Great Men portraits and series of landscapes, draw on Chinese painterly traditions, especially from the Song dynasty. His work has been shown in museums and galleries around the world, and, in 2008, his Mask Series 1996 No.6 became the highest-grossing work by a Contemporary Asian artist to date. In 2013, his work The Last Supper, sold for $23 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. Zeng lives and works in Beijing.

Timeline

1964
Born in Wuhan, China
1991
Graduated from Hubei Academy of Fine Arts, Oil Painting Department
Currently lives and works in Beijing, China

Exhibitions

2012–2013
Zeng Fanzhi, Gagosian Gallery, London, England (solo)
2011
Zeng Fanzhi, Gagosian Gallery, Hong Kong (solo)
The World Belongs to You, Palalazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy
Fusion, Contemporary Art Exhibition, Yiyuan Space, Wuhan, China
2010
Zeng Fanzhi: The Sublime, Union Temple, Brooklyn, USA (solo)
Zeng Fanzhi, Shanghai Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China (solo)
Zeng Fanzhi, The National Gallery of Foreign Art, Sofia, Bulgaria (solo)
Made in popland, National Museum of Contemporary art, Gwacheon, Korea
And-Writers 2010, Nan Jing Biennale, Jiangsu Provingcial Art Museum, Nangjing, China
2010 The Constructed Dimension, 2010 Chinese Contemporary Art Invitational Exhibition, National Art Musume of China, Beijing, China
Reshaping History: Chinart from 2000-2009, Special Documenta, China National Convention Center, Beijing, China
Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Fairy Tales: Selections from the MaGMA's collection, Opera Gallery, Singapore
Photo Exhibition of Contemporary Artists, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2009
Zeng Fanzhi, Godia Fundation, Barcelona, Spain (solo)
Art Beijing 2009--Zeng Fanzhi, Art Fairs Agricultural Exhibition Centre of China, Beijing, China (solo)
Narcissus looks for Echo, Zeng Fanzhi Suzhou Exhibition, Suzhou Museum, Jiangsu Province, China (solo)
Zeng Fanzhi, Acquavella Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
First Annual Conference of Collectors of Chinese Contemporary Art, Hejingyuan Art Museum, Beijing, China
Retrospect and Exploration, Hu Bei Province Art Museum, Wuhan, China
Another scene: artists' projects, concepts and ideas, ShanghART H-Space, Shanghai, China
Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, USA
China Gold, Museum Maillol, Paris, France
53rd Venice Biennial, Making World, La Biennale, Venice, Italy
Boao Asia Contemoprary Art Exhibition – Contemplation and Communication, Boao Asian Forum International Meeting Center, Hainan, China
Contemporary Art from Hunan & Hubei 1985 – 2009, Guangdong Art Museum, Guangdong, China
2008
Tai Ping You Xiang-Zeng Fanzhi, ShanghART Beijing, China (solo)
Lovely Blossoms and Full moon, YUZ Collection of Chinese Contemporary Art, YUZ Museum, Darmawangsa Square unit 31-33, The City Walk, JI. Darmawangsa VI&IX, Jakarta, Indonesia
FIAC 2008, Booth B12, Art Fairs Grand Palais, Paris, France
The Love of Art: Collection of Contemporary Art in China, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
The Revolution Continues, New Art From China, Saatchi Gallery, London, England
Our Future, Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation Collection, Ullens Foundation, Beijing, China
Case Studies of Artists in Art History and Art Criticism, SZ Art Center, Beijing, China
Writing on the Wall, Chinese New Realism and Avant-Garde in the Eighties and Nineties, Groninger Museum, Groningen, The Netherlands
21st Century China: Art between Identity and Transformation, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy
Academic and Un-Academic II, Exhibition of Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
2007
China Now, Cobra Museum, Amstelveen, The Netherlands
Floating: New generation of Art in China, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea
Zeng FanZhi Idealism, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (solo)
Zeng FanZhi 1989-2007, Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea (solo)
Thermocline of Art: New Asian Waves, ZKM (Center for Art and Media), Karlsruhe, Germany
Time Difference, Initial Access, Wolverhampton, England
2006
Contemporary China, PKM Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Zhou Chunya, Zeng Fanzhi and Ji Dachun, LONGRUN ART, Beijing, China
Zeng Fanzhi's Solo-Exhibition with New Paintings, ShanghArt Gallery, Shanghai, China (solo)
Zeng Fanzhi – Paintings, Wedel, London, England (solo)
Zeng Fanzhi, Gallery ShangART, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, USA
2005
Sky, Fine Art Literature, Wuhan, China
Majong, Chinesische Gegenwartskunst aus der Sammlung Sigg”, Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland
Zeng Fanzhi, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong
China, contemporary painting, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio, Bologna, Italy
2004
Scapes 1989-2004, the paintings of Zeng Fanzhi He Xiangning Art Muesum, Shenzhen, China
Face, Soobin Gallery, Singapore
Unmask the Mask-Zeng Fanzhi, Gallery Artside, Korea
Exhibition of Nominate for Art Documentation, Art Gallery of Hubei Academy of Art, China
Face to Face: Six Artists and One Era, Robert & Li Art Gallery, Tainan, Taiwan
2003
I/We, 1991-2003, The painting of Zeng Fanzhi, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Left Hand, Right Hand: A Sino-German Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Beijing 798 Space Art & Culture, Beijing, China
Invitational Gallery Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2002
Paris-Pekin, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris, France
The First Triennial of Chinese Arts, Guangzhou Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
Korean and Chinese painting: 2002 New Expression, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
2001
Raw Beneath the Mask, ShanghArt Gallery, Shanghai, China
Toward a New Image: Twenty years of Chinese Contemporary Painting, National Art Museum, Beijing; Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; Guangzhou Art Museum, Guangzhou; Modern Art Museum, Chengdu, China
Academic and Un-Academic, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
2000
Futuro Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art, Contemporary Art Center of Macau, Macau
1999
Chinese Oil Painting for Fifty Years, International Exhibition Center, Beijing, China
Open Enterance, Dong Yu Museum of Contemporary Art, Shenyang, China
Zeng Fanzhi Works 1993-1998, CIFA Gallery, Beijing, China
Zeng Fanzhi Works 1993-1998, ShanghART Gallery Shanghai, China
It Is Me, Forbidden City, Beijing, China
1997
8+8-1, Hong Kong, London, Hamburg
Question Marks, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
1996
Reality, Present and Future, International Art Palace, Beijing, China
First Academic Exhibition of Chinese Art, China Art Gallery, Beijing: Hong Kong Arts Center, Hong Kong
1995
Out of the Middle Kingdom: Chinese Avant-Garde Art, Santa Monica Arts Center, Barcelona, Spain
Des Pais del Centre, Avantguardes Artistiques Xineses, Santa Monica Art Centre, Barcelona, Spain
Beyond Ideology: New Art from China, Der Haus der Kulture das Welt Hamburg, Germany
Behind the Mask, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong
1994
Exhibition of Works Selected by Art Critics, China Art Gallery Beijing, China
Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition, Fung Ping Shan Museum, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong
1992
Guangzhou Biennal, Oil Painting of the Nineties, Guangzhou Convention Centre, Guangzhou, China
1991
Chinese Oil Painting for Fifty Years, International Exhibition Center, Beijing, China
1990
Zeng Fanzhi, Hubei Institute of Fine Arts Gallery, Wuhan, China

Literature

2007
China Art Book. Uta Grosenick / Caspar Schübbe (Ed.), 680 pages, approx. 850 images, trilingual: Engl./Ger./Chin., Dumont Buchverlag, Cologne 2007.
English (US)

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