Zhang Ying

1969

Suzhou , China

Zhang Ying received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou. Though she specialised in ink and figure painting, she is drawn to the spiritual qualities of the Chinese landscape painting tradition and has focused the last few years of her practice on landscape, rock and tree paintings. Chinese painters of the past portrayed landscapes to reflect the vastness of the universe. Similarly, rocks represented a microcosm of nature to which artists turned for inspiration and meditation. Zhang draws from these legacies and transforms them into her personal visual language. According to the artist, she endeavors to create a space for reflection between the present and the spiritual. Indeed, there is a meditative quality in each of her paintings—along with their poetic titles—that invites our contemplation.

Wind at Sunset (2016) recalls the rock in the painting Auspicious Dragon Rock, attributed to the emperor Huizong (r. 1101–1125), one of most prominent petrophiles in Chinese history, who spent huge sums to gather the finest specimens of rocks from all over the country to decorate his gardens. Heart of Strength (2016) depicts a large rock holding strong amid the tumultuous waves crashing against it, embodying the resilience and solidity that rocks are believed to possess.

POP ROCK in 2021 marked Alisan Fine Arts' first collaboration with the artist and the debut exhibition of her works in Hong Kong. Following that, her artworks were showcased in various art fairs, includnig Asian Art in London at Cromwell Place, Ink Asia in Hong Kong, and Art021 in Shanghai. In 2024, we present her work at our New York exhibition, Themes and Variations.

BIOGRAPHY
1995 Bachelor's degree in Figure Painting, Department of Traditional Chinese Painting, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China

Artwork featured in the April issue of "New Art" magazine

2003 Master's degree in Figure Painting, Department of Traditional Chinese Painting, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China

Current Living and working in Hangzhou, China

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2017

Folded Scenery, Beijing Tea House, Beijing, China

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024

Themes and Variations, Alisan Fine Arts-New York Gallery, New York, USA

2023

Art021, Alisan Fine Arts, Shanghai Exhibition Centre, Shanghai, China
Beyond Tradition: The Metamorphosis of Chinese Art, Alisan Fine Arts, Cromwell Place, London, UK
Ink Asia, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
Oh! You Pretty Things: Contemporary Arts & Crafts Exhibition, Qiushui Villa, Hangzhou, China

2021

POP ROCK: An Exhibition About Rocks, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

2017

Self-Selected Compilation, Cheng Contemporary Art Centre, Beijing, China

2007

Zhejiang Province Exhibition of Chinese Figure Painting Masters, China

2003

A Celebration of Guanxiu 1170th Anniversary: Fine Works of Figure Painting, Zhejiang Exhibition Hall, Hangzhou, China
Exhibition of Bird-and-Flower Women Painters from Zhejiang, China
3rd Zhejiang Youth Artworks Exhibition, Zhejiang Exhibition Hall, Hangzhou, China

2002

Zhejiang Exhibition of Chinese Figure Painting, China

1994

Inaugural Student Artworks Exhibition of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China

1991

Jiangsu Province Art, Calligraphy, and Photography Exhibition, China

SELECTED AWARDS
2002 Bronze Award, Zhejiang Exhibition of Chinese Figure Painting, China
1994 Outstanding Creative Award, Inaugural Student Artworks Exhibition of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
1991 Outstanding Artwork Award, Jiangsu Province Art, Calligraphy, and Photography Exhibition, China

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China