1959    Born in Tianjin, China

1979    Admitted to Tianjin Yangliuqing Fine Arts Press

             Editorial Director, Senior Editor of World of Chinese Painting, Tianjin Yangliuqing Fine Arts Press

1988    Graduated from Tianjin Fine Arts Academy of Arts and Crafts, Tianjin, China

2002    Associate Professor at Tianjin Transportation Vocational College, Tianjin, China

2004    Guest Professor in the New Media Department, Beijing Film Academy, Beijing

2005    Established his studio in Beijing

2006    Moved to Beijing

 

Currently a professional artist in Beijing

Lives and works in Beijing

 

 

2015    The Dynamic Image Plans of Xiaozhou: Symbiotic Behavior and Imaging – 

             Zhang Yu’s Works Exhibition, Xiaozhou People Auditorium, Guangzhou, China

2014    Zhang Yu: The Form of Notion, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China        

             Fundamental: Zhang Yu Visual Darwinism Exhibition, 

             Sanshang Contemporary Art Museum, Hangzhou, China

2013    Cultivation Practice – Exhibition of Zhang Yu’s Fingerprint Works 1991-2013, 

             Conception and Form: Zhang Yu’s Work, Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

             Drinking at the Martell Chateau – Wash and Ink, Cognac, France

2012    Sealed Fingerprints – Exhibition of Works by Zhang Yu, Other Gallery, Shanghai

             Fingerprints – Zhang Yu’s Work, SEM-ART Space, Monte Carlo, Monaco

2011    Cultivation Practice – Zhang Yu’s Fingerprint works 1991-2011, Today Art Museum, Beijing

2010    Diffused Fingerprints – Zhang Yu’s Art works, National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei

2009    Fingerprints: The Trace of Zhang Yu's Practice, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei

             Fingerprints: The Trace of Zhang Yu's Practice, Da Xiang Art Space, Taichung, Taiwan

             Zhang Yu's “Instant Zen”: Exploration for Culture and the Spirits, 

             Da Xiang Art Space, Taichung, Taiwan

2008    Fingerprints: Exhibition of Works by Zhang Yu, Creek Art, 798 Art District, Beijing

2007    Fingerprints: Zhang Yu, Goedhuis Contemporary, New York

2006    Fingerprints: Zhang Yu, Goedhuis Contemporary, New York

2000    Divine Light: Ink Paintings by Zhang Yu, Goedhuis Contemporary, New York

2001    Zhang Yu: Experimental Ink and Wash, The Red Mansion Foundation, London

1993    Zhang Yu: Fan Painting Exhibition, Zhuxianxuan Art Gallery, Hong Kong

1992    Chinese Artist Zhang Yu: Modern Ink and Wash Exhibition, Belyaev Gallery, Moscow

1989    Zhang Yu: Fan Painting Exhibition, Qingdao Workers’ Cultural Palace, Qingdao, China

1988    Zhang Yu: Exhibition of Ink and Wash Paintings, Tian jin Art Museum, Tianjin, China

 

 

2015    Writing∙Non-writing: Orientation and Realm, 

             Art Museum of the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China

             The 56th Venice Biennale – Personal Structures, Venice, Italy

             Open Books: Artists with their Chinese Album, Wenzhou Museum of Contemporary Art, 

             Wenzhou, China

2014    A Fragment in the Course of Time – Landscape of Chinese Ink Art in 1980s, 

             Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai

             Chinese Printmaking Exhibition, ChinaPrint Art Museum, Shenzhen, China

             West Says East Says: Chinese Contemporary Art Research Exhibition, 

             United Art Museum, Wuhan, China  

             Open Books: Artists and the Chinese Folding-books, Art Museum Institute of Chinese           

             Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

             Variation: Contemporary Chinese Ink Art Series II, Hive Center For Contemporary Art, Beijing

             Non-Being, Emptiness: An Intellectual Dimension of Contemporary Art, 

             Tokyo Gallery + BTAP, 798 Art District, Beijing

             Ink and the Body: Ink and Phenomenology, Exhibition No.1, Ink Studio, Beijing

             Open Thinking of Contemporary Art, Da Xiang Art Space, Taichung, Taiwan

             Ethereal Dimness: New Water Ink Research Series, 

             Avant–Garde Contemporary Arts Center, Nanjing, China

2013    New Prominent of Academy: Exhibition of the Nominated for China’s Contemporary Ink and 

             Forms of the Formless – Contemporary Art from China, Sishang Art Museum, Beijing

             Washing Painting New Dimension – 2013 Critics Nomination Exhibition, 

             The Original Way – New Concepts in Chinese Contemporary Art, 

             Hong Kong Museum of Art,Hong Kong

             The 55th Venice Biennale – Personal Structures, Venice, Italy

             The 55th Venice Biennale – Collateral Exhibition of Chinese Art, Venice, Italy

             Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

             New Realm: Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Art, Conde Duque, Madrid

             “Ink Files” in Its First Round: China and South Korea Contemporary Ink Invitation Exhibition, 

             The Art Museum of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

             New Abstract Art Invitational Exhibition, Phoenix Art Palace, Wuxi, China

             Silent Realm, Renaissance of Eastern Aesthetics, Zero Art Center, 798 Art District, Beijing

             Outside Method, Da Xiang Art Space, Taichung, Taiwan

2012    Goods Possession of the East: Exhibition of Classical Chinese Art, Shanghai Museum,Shanghai

             Ink Painting – International Ink Painting Exhibition, National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei

             “2012 Context China – 'Super-Impressionistic Easel Art' 10+10”, 

             Sanchuan Modern Art Museum, Nanjing, China

             Forms of the Formless – Contemporary Art from China, Kunstwerk Carlshütte, Büdelsdorf, Germany

             Ink: The Art of China, Saatchi Gallery, London

             Original Shapes of Ink and Wash - Group Exhibition, Sanchuan Modern Art Museum, Nanjing, China

             Duchamp’ Inframince in Painting, Chinese-Style, Yuan Art Museum, Beijing

             Without Shape – A Thinking Format that Transcends the Medium, 

             Da Xiang Art Space,Taichung, Taiwan

             Ink and Wash Again – Chinese Contemporary Ink and Wash Art Invitational Exhibition

2000-2010, Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, China

             Towards Notion – Maximalism in Contrasts, Hillwood Art Museum, Long Island University, New York

             Confluence – Zhang Yu and Sohan Qadri, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York

             Trans-Media: Works by Zhang Yu and Liang Quan, Enjoy Museum of Art, Beijing

             Towards Notion – Maximalism in Contrasts, The Richard E. Peeler Art Center, 

             DePauw University, Indiana, USA

2011    Ink and Wash China, Chinese and Italian Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition, 

             Museo Rivelli di Arte Moderna, Torino, Italy

             Contemporanea, Galleria Umberto Di Marino, Napoli, Italy

             Visible Soul – The Fourth Chinese Abstract Art Exhibition, PIFO Gallery, Beijing

             Writing and Passing – Abstract Art Exhibition, ESSE Space, 798 Art District, Beijing

             New Realm: Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

             The Great Celestial Abstraction: Chinese Art in the 21th Century, Katherine E. Nash Gallery, 

             University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

             The Great Celestial Abstraction: Chinese Art in the 21th Century, 

             MACRO Testaccio e La Pelanda, Rome

             “2011 Context China – 'Super-Impressionistic Easel Art' 10+10”, 

             Museum of Contemporary Art Beijing, Beijing

             Towards Notion – Maximalism in Contrasts, Frick Fine Arts Building, 

             Metaphysical Entity, Da xiang Art Space, Taichung, Taiwan

             Oh! Nirica – When dreams meet the material, Firenze, Italy

2010    Ink, Not Ink: Chinese Contemporary Ink and Wash Art Exhibition, 

             Gliptoteka HAZU- Sculpture Museum of the Croatian Academy of Science and Arts, Zagreb

             The Great Celestial Abstraction: Chinese Art in the 21st Century, 

             National Art Museum of China, Beijing

             Beyond the Horizon – Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, 

             Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts, Santiago

             Writing∙Non-writing: 2010 International Modern Calligraphy Exhibition, 

             The Art Museum of the Chinese Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China

             Memories of the Past: Contemporary Chinese Brush Painting, Morlan Gallery, Transylvania

             University, Lexington, USA

             Tracks and Qualitative Change – The 2nd Beijing Film Academy International New Media

             Art Triennial, Beijing Film Academy No.4 Space Art Museum, Beijing

             Reconstruction – Top Show of China’s Contemporary Abstract Art, Zhejiang Art Museum,

             Hangzhou; Today Art Museum, Beijing

             Towards Notion – Maximalism in Contrasts, Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai

             The End of Ink and Wash Painting! From Ink and Wash Painting to Ink and Wash –

             Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Da Xiang Art Space, Taichung, Taiwan

2009    Contemporary Ink Painting – Shanghai New Ink Painting Art Exhibition, Zhu Qizhan Art

             Museum; Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai

             Yi Pai: Century Thinking, Today Art Museum, Beijing

             Ink, Not Ink: Chinese Contemporary Ink and Wash Invitational Exhibition, Warsaw Royal

             Castle, Poland; Hungarian Agricultural Museum, Budapest; National Museum of

             Contemporary Art of Romania, Romania; Sculpture Museum of the Croatian Academy of

             Science and Arts, Jagreb

             Open Flexibility: Innovative Contemporary Ink Art, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei

             Longitude and Latitude of Time and Space – Chinese Contemporary Art Invitational,

             Shanghai International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai

             "Chang" – An Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Da Xiang Art Space, Taichung, Taiwan;

             National Hsinchu University of Education, Hsinchu, China

             The End of Ink and Wash Painting! Creating One’s Own Contemporary Art, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing

2008    Yi Pai: 30 Years of “Abstract” Art in China, La Caixa Forum Barcelona, Madrid

             Individual Case: Artists in Art History and Art Criticism, SZ Art Center, 798 Art District, Beijing

             Shanghai MoCA Envisage II – Butterfly Dream, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai

             The 6th Shenzhen International Biennale of Ink and Wash, Shenzhen Museum, Shenzhen, China

             Ink and Wash ≠ Ink and Wash Painting: Zhang Yu, Li Huasheng, Liang Quan, H.J.Y.

             Contemporary Art Center, Beijing

2007    Chinese Edition – Contemporary Art Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing

             By Crafty Scheme, Salvation: From Traditional and Revolution Language,

             Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, China

             China Onward: The Estella Collection of Chinese Contemporary Art, Louisiana Museum of

             Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark

             Abstract Narrative Art Exhibition and Symposium on Modernity and Abstract Art, 

             Deshan Art Gallery, Beijing

             Lines: Contemporary Chinese Abstract Art Exhibition, Creek Art, 798 Art District, Beijing

             The 3rd Chengdu Biennale, Musuem of Contemproary Art Chengdu, Chengdu, China

             Continuation, Variation and Infiltration: Ink, A Monochromatic World, The Art Museum of

             Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Tokyo

             The Supplemental History: Works from the Collection of GDMoA, 

             Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China

             Yi Pai: 30 Years of “Abstract” Art in China, Wall Art Museum, Beijing

             Narration in Ink and Wash, Zaim Gallery, Yokohama, Japan

             Intangible: Group Exhibition of Zhang Yu, Liang Quan and Liu Xuguang, Creek Art, 

             798 Art District, Beijing

2006     Revival: New Ink Art Exhibition Shanghai 2006, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum; 

             Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai

             Crossing: Modes of Contemporary Ink and Wash, Gallery of Tianjin Academy, Tianjin, China

             Chinese Ink and Wash Documentary Exhibition 1976-2006, Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China

             Chinese Contemporary Art Documentary Exhibition, 

             China Millennium Monument Art Museum, Beijing

             International Modern Ink Painting Exhibition, Asian Cultural Center, New York

2005    Experiences and Consciousness: Beijing Film Academy New Media Art Festival, 

             Beijing Film Academy, Beijing

             Retrospection of Experimental Ink & Wash, The Exhibition Hall of Shenzhen

             Fine Art Institute Shenzhen, China

             Encre de Chine Expérimentale, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris

             Tribute to '85, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai

             Writing∙Non-writing: Opened Space and Time of Calligraphy, The Art Museum of the

             Chinese Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China

             Metaphysics: Black and White – Abstract Art Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai

             Nature: Experimental Ink Painting Report, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing

             Upcoming Ink Painting: Modern Ink Painting Exhibition, Palais Rihour, Lille, France

2004    Irrelevant to Reality! – Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition, Liu Hai Su Art Museum, Shanghai

             Dreaming of the Dragon's Nation: Contemporary Art from China, Irish Museum ofModern Art, Dublin

             Fu Baoshi Prize: Ink and Wash Painting Nanjing Triennial, Jiangsu Art Museum, Nanjing, China

             Yokohama International Film Festival: Visual Group, Neo-Academicism of China, 

             The 4th Shenzhen International Biennale of Ink and Wash, Guan Shanyue Art Museum;

             The Exhibition Hall of Shenzhen Fine Art Institute, Shenzhen, China

2003    Chinese Art Today, China Millennium Monument Art Museum, Beijing

             Exhibition of Chinese Experimental Ink and Wash, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing

             Impermanence: How to Explain the Ink and Wash, Hong Kong Art Commune, Hong Kong

2002    The 17th Asian International Art Exhibition, Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, Korea

             Hong Kong Art Gallery Collection Exhibition, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong

             Ground Zero: Material Art Invitational Exhibition, The Art Museum of China Central

             Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing

             "East + West" Ausstellung für die Zeitgenössische Kunst aus China, Künstlerhaus, Vienna

2001    ‘Dream 01’, Contemporary Chinese Art, Atlantis Gallery, London

              The 32nd Düsseldorf Modern Art Exhibition, Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre, Düsseldorf, Germany

              20 Years of Experiment in Chinese Ink and Wash, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China

              The 16th Asian International Art Exhibition, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China

              Abstract Ink and Wash Invitational Exhibition, 

              Xi’an Qujiang International Conference and Exhibition Center, Xi'an, China

2000     Inside Out: New Chinese Art Exhibition, National Art Gallery of Australia, Canberra; 

              Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong

              New Chinese Painting, Liu Hai Su Art Museum, Shanghai; Jiangsu Art Museum, Nanjing, China

              International Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition, Jiangsu Art Museum, Nanjing, China

              Color, Brush and Ink: Zhang Yu and Heidi Meyer, 

              Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Beijing

              Exhibition of Abstract Colour and Ink Art, Fang Gallery, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, USA

1999     The 14th Asian International Art Exhibition, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan

              Dialogue 1999, Art Gallery of Beijing International Art Palace, Beijing; 

              TEDA (Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area) Contemporary Art Museum; 

              From Chinese Ink to Abstraction, Chinese Cultural Center of San Francisco, San Francisco, USA

              On the Fringe of Ink and Wash: Exhibition of Works on Paper, 

              Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Hong Kong

1998     Inside Out: New Chinese Art Exhibition, PS1 Gallery, The Museum of Modern Art, New York; 

              Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, USA

              The 2nd Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai

              The 13th Asian International Art Exhibition, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur

              Looking Back to Chang'an: Invitational Exhibition of Modern Ink and Wash for Collection, 

              Xi'an Art Museum, Xi'an, China

1997     Grand Exhibition of Chinese Art, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai

              Stars of the Century: Chinese Art Biennale, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 

              Canada Exhibition of New Ink and Wash Art, Berlin Art Museum, Berlin; Halle Museum; 

              Galerie TTT; Museum of Antiquities of the University of Leipzig, Heimbach, Germany

1996     Symposium on Chinese Ink and Wash: Toward the 21st Century and Exhibition for

              Viewing and Emulating, The Art Gallery of South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

              Homecoming: Chinese Contemporary Ink and Wash Group Exhibition, Gallery on the Rim;

              World Journal Art Gallery, San Francisco, USA

1995     Ink and Light: Chinese Contemporary Experimental Ink and Wash Group Exhibition, 

1994     Zero: Art Exhibition, Flanders Expo, Gent, Belgium

1993     Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Abstract Ink and Wash, The National Museum of China, Beijing

              Six Chinese Modern Ink and Wash Artists, Rong Bao Zhai, Beijing

1992     Invitational Exhibition of Traditional Chinese Painting, 

              Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Painting, Beijing

1991     The 2nd Exhibition of Chinese Realistic Painting with Meticulous Brushwork, 

              National Museum of China, Beijing

1990     The 27th Asian Modern Art Exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum; 

              The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo

              Spring Exhibition of 1990, Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Painting, Beijing

              Five Contemporary Painters Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art Beijing, Beijing

1989     Exhibition of Chinese New Literati Painting, Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Painting, Beijing

1988     The 1st Exhibition of Chinese Realistic Painting with Fine Brushwork, 

              National Art Museum of China, Beijing

1986     The new constitution, Orchard Gallery, Singapore

 

Awards

 

2012     AAC, Arts China: Artist of the Year, Ink and Wash Category, Forbidden City, Beijing

2004     Fu Baoshi Award – Nanjing Ink and Wash Painting Media Triennial, 2nd prize, Nanjing, China

1992     Book-binding design for Chinese Modern Ink and Wash Painting, Prize for Huabei, Dong Bei and the                Eight Provinces of the North-East, Prize for Excellence in Book Binding Design, Beijing

1991     Edited and Designed Chinese Meticulous Brushwork Painting for Which the Bronze Prize was                          awarded in the initial 1980-1990 Excellent Fine Arts Book Awards, Beijing

1990     Book-Binding Design of Collected Paintings, 2nd Prize, Cover Design Category in

              the Eight Northern Provinces Awards, Taiyuan, China

1988     Tianjin 3rd Youth Art Festival, 3rd Prize in the Top Ten, Tianjin, China

 

 

Metropolitian Museum, New York

Hongkong Art Museum, Hong Kong

Benetton Museum, Venice, Italy

Belyaevo Modern Art Gallery, Moscow

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark University of Louvain Museum, Louvain, Belgium

The Estella Collection, New York

The Olenska Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland

Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Belgium

The Red Mansion Foundation, London

Shuhua Art Educational Foundation, San Francisco, USA

Chinese Culture Center, San Francisco, USA

Goedhuis Contemporary, New York

Jingquan Gallery, Boston, USA

Fang Gallery, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, USA

Baosongtang, New York

SEM-ART Gallery, Monte Carlo, Monaco

National Art Museum of China, Beijing

Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai

Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China

The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou, China

Museum of Contemporary Art Chengdu, Chengdu, China

TEDA (Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area) Contemporary Art Museum, Tianjin, China

How Art Museum, Shanghai

Meilun Museum of Art, Changsha, China

Fine Arts Literature Art Centre, Wuhan, China

Rongbaozhai, Beijing

Hanmo Art Gallery, Beijing

Da Xiang Art Space, Taichung, Taiwan

X-Power Gallery, Taipei

Yuan Zhaotang Art Collection Gallery, Shenzhen, China

Other Gallery, Shanghai

Huitai Art Center, Tianjin, China

Chengwei Ventures LLC, Shanghai

Sanchuan Gallery, Beijing

Wanlong Enterprise Group, Xi’an, China

Beijing Caissa Culture Communication Co., Ltd., Beijing