Zhong Biao

(Chinese, born 1968)

Zhong Biao is a contemporary Chinese Neo-Surrealist painter. Born in Chongqing, China in 1968, Zhong’s work vacillates between the tension of body, object, and landscape. He often paints figures in stark black and white set against vibrant backgrounds in color in swirling, apocalyptic compositions. Inspired by a rapidly changing China where the country has grown economically, culturally, and politically, he examines these new circumstances throughout his oeuvre while retaining a sense of remove. “I don’t want to force my own understanding or interpretation of my paintings on the audience. The mixture of images within each of my paintings is like a combination of controversial elements in life,” Zhong has explained. “Like life, we cannot understand everything that we have seen or experienced. In my paintings, Eastern and Western, historical and modern opposites coexist, reflecting the reality of today’s lifestyle.” His work has been showcased in numerous exhibitions worldwide, and has been featured at the Art Scene Warehouse in Shanghai, the Frey Norris Gallery in San Francisco, and Christie's in London. Zhong currently lives and works in Sichuan, China where he teaches at the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts.