Zhan Wang | Artist | East West Bank Art Program

Zhan Wang is a Chinese contemporary artist best known for his sparkling stainless steel sculptures of large, rock-like shapes. First emerging in 1995, influenced by the classical Chinese Scholar’s Rocks, these works combine traditional concepts with the modern and avant garde: abstract shapes and industrial mediums collide with the peaceful intention of classical rockery. This meld of new and old, industrial and handmade, exemplify Zhan’s artistic vision as he continues to explore the borders of traditional Chinese aesthetics and art. Both boldly physical and tantalizingly conceptual, these highly reflective works not only utilize the ubiquitous building material of his native country but also highlight the rapid urbanization of modern-day China and its ongoing realignment with the natural world. Made through a painstaking handcrafted process for which the artist received a patent in 2002, his Artificial Rocks span the ages to bring concepts of modernization and westernization face to face with historic artistic traditions.

Born in 1962 in Beijing, China, he studied at the Beijing Industrial Arts College and later the Central Academy of Fine Arts. His work has been widely exhibited at institutions internationally, including at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, CA; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; the Kunstmuseum, Bern; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; and Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China. His works is also included in the permanent collections of the British Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, among others. Read more