As an artist with an highly creative and philosophical thought process, over the years, Wu Jian’an has been thinking and exploring new ways, to bring the radical aesthetics and cultural attitude that is embodied in contemporary art to the endangered Chinese folk art tradition. Wu, with his unique approach, seeks to search and present how contemporary issues internally connect to Chinese and Western ancient mythology and history; traditional philosophical concepts and methods for creating images over generations. Wu’s thinking and exploration, on the one hand, has facilitated the evolution of his personal style, not only creating a brand new mode of expression that is completely different from what’s prevailing in Chinese contemporary art, but also produced a prospect that is highly distinct and inspirational. On the other hand, Wu has also endowed the ancient culture and traditions with a new vitality, which makes him an outstanding representative in the field of contemporary art, with a focus on the transformation and innovation of traditional resources.

                                –Fan Dian, President of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA)

Wu Jian’an

Wu Jian’an was born in Beijing in 1980, while his family was originally rooted in Jinshan, Shanghai. Wu graduated with a bachelor degree in Advertising, from the Communication University of China in 2002. He received a master’s degree from China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in 2005 and has stayed in teaching since then. He is currently an associate professor and a graduate student supervisor in the Department of Experimental Art. He is also a member of the Experimental Art Committee of China Artists Association. Moreover, Wu works as a researcher at the Chinese Traditional Techniques Research and Preservation Center, at Prince Kung’s Palace Museum, under the Ministry of Culture in China.

Exhibitions 2016 Ten Thousand Things: Recent Works by Wu Jian’an, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China 2015 Transformation: A Tale of Contemporary Art and Intangible Cultural Heritage, Prince Kung’s Palace Museum, Beijing, China 2015 Having Floods under Control, Art Stage, Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore 2015 The Change of Energy, Shanghai Exhibition Center, ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai, China 2014 Transformation, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China; Chambers Fine Art, New York, USA 2014 Faces, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, China 2014 Having Floods under Control, SCOPE Basel, Basel, Switzerland 2012 Seven Layered Shell, Chambers Fine Art, New York, USA 2011 Seven Layered Shell, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China 2011 Mountain Ranges, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, China 2008 The Heaven of Nine Levels, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China 2006 Daydreams, Chambers Fine Art, New York, USA 2005 Search for Piyingxi (Shadow Play), Oil Painting Department Gallery, Central Academy of Fine Arts(CAFA), Beijing, China Group Exhibitions and Art Projects 2016 Lunar New Year Festival: Year of the Monkey, held in honor of the centennial of the Museum’s Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA 2016 Echo of Civilization: Crossing Dunhuang, Empirical Art Museum of China, Beijing, China 2016 Mountains and Valleys: Multidimensional Chinese Landscape, Huayu Art Gallery, Sanya, China 2016 Talking on Paper, Pace Beijing, Beijing, China 2015 The Civil Power, Beijing Minsheng Contemporary Art Museum, Beijing, China 2015 Up – Youth China Young Artists Exhibition 2015, Beijing Times Art Museum, Beijing, China 2015 Hetero – Entity Myths Narration Imagination, E Museum of Contemporary Art, Shenzhen, China 2015 The Carolyn Hsu and René Balcer Collection: Exploring Three Decades of Contemporary Chinese Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA 2014 COSMOS, Shanghai 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China 2014 Crossing the Border, Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China 2014 Ten Years in One Inspection: CAFA Achievement Exhibition of Ten-Year Education on Experimental Art, Central Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum, Beijing, China 2013 The 9th Shanghai Biennale, Zhongshan Park Project – City Memory: Zhangzhou, Zhangzhou Bihu Exhibition Hall, Fujian, China 2013 Forward! Contemporary Art & Contemporary City, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China 2013 The 6th Chengdu Biennale: Gravity, Museum of Contemporary Art Chengdu, China 2013 A4 Young Artist Experimental Season, 2^nd Round Exhibition, A4 Contemporary Arts Center, Chengdu, China 2013 The 2^nd Datong International Sculpture Biennale, Heyang Art Museum, Shanxi Province, China 2013 The 8th International Ink Art Biennale of Shenzhen, Guan Shan Yue Art Museum, Shenzhen, China 2013 Time Zone-Creation and Exploration of Contemporary Young College Teachers, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, China 2013 Special Exhibition of 2013 CAFA Teaching Staff, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China 2012 The First "CAFAM Future" Exhibition: Sub-Phenomena: Report on the State of Chinese Young Art Nomination, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China 2012 “Boom!”: 2012 CYAP (China Young Artists Project) Report Exhibition, International Conference and Exhibition Center, Beijing, China 2012 Road Trip: Chinese Contemporary Public Art Exhibition, Kassel, Germany 2012 I, Pencil, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China 2012 Not Just Paper: The First Round of Sino-Japanese Paper Art Exhibition, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China 2011 Landscape in Mind: Public Art from China, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington DC, USA 2011 1+1: A Cross-Strait Four-Region Artistic Exchange Project, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China 2011 Start from the Horizon: Chinese Contemporary Sculpture Since 1978, Sishang Art Museum, Beijing, China 2011 Print, Concept, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China 2010 Modeling, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China 2010 River Flows East, The Collection Museum, Lincoln, England 2010 Beyond Mediations- the 2^nd Mediations Biennale, Zamek Culture Center, Poznan, Poland 2010 Get It Louder 2010 - Sharism, Sanlitun Soho, Beijing, China 2010 Post Traditions: Enlarge The Carve, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China 2009 Live and Let Live: Creators of Tomorrow—The 4^th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan 2009 Always—As It Was, Tang Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand 2008 Another Lonely Planet Revisited, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China 2008 A+A’ 2008—The 3^rd A+A Exhibition, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China 2007 Net: Re-imagining Space, Time and Culture, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China 2007 A+A’ 2007—The 2^nd A+A Exhibition, Gallery of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing; Sichuan University Museum, Chengdu; Chongqing Art Museum, Chongqing, China 2006 Coming from Daily Life: The 1^st Academic Documentary of Experimental Art, CAFA main exhibition hall, Beijing, China 2006 New Folk Movement: The Reconstruction of Public Life, U Space Contemporary Art Space, Beijing, China 2006 Painting and Handcraft, PIFO New Art Studios, Beijing, China 2005 Archaeology of the Future: The 2^nd Triennial of Chinese Art, Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China

Courtesy of the artist, translated by Miao Yinan and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO