Zhou Chunya

(Chinese, born 1955)

Zhou Chunya is a Chinese painter best known for his Green Dog series of paintings. In this wide-ranging body of work, Zhou depicts a bright green German Shepard in a variety of poses and environments. These paintings are often interpreted as a metaphorical self-portrait of Zhou, as well as a literal transcription of the love the artist had for his real pet, which had died shortly before he started the series. Born in 1955 in Chongqing, China, Zhou first studied at the Sichuan Academy of Fine Art in 1982 and went on to receive his MFA from the Kassel Academy of Fine Art in Germany in 1988. During his time abroad, he embraced Western techniques of painting and was inspired by German Expressionism in particular, employing it alongside techniques influenced by traditional Chinese calligraphy. His Landscape Series No.5 appears almost abstract with brushstrokes reminiscent of ancient Chinese landscapes. He was the subject of a retrospective at the Shanghai Art Museum in 2010, and today his work can be found in the collections of the All Show Art Center and the Tang Contemporary Art Center in Beijing, among others. Zhou lives and works in Chengdu, China.