“I have always maintained a high degree of enthusiasm for artistic creation, but I do not deliberately seek inspiration for creation, because it is a part of life itself.”
-- Xinyan Zhang (张 新 颜)
Xinyan was born in 1991 in Shenzhen, China. Her work is best understood as the intersection between East and West, putting in dialogue Western post-expressionism with traditional Chinese painting. Her artistic practice uses fragmentation and hybrid techniques to explore the “vulnerability of human nature” and the “common state of human existence” under the influence of popular culture. Her focus is on the perceived low status of women and children in society.
She received her BFA from Shenzhen University (2014) and her MFA from Guangzhou Unversity (2018), She also studied at Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe in Germany (2019-2021) and Florence Academy of Fine Arts in Italy (2017). Solo exhibitions of Xinyan’s work have been presented at venues such as De Sarthe Gallery, Hongkong (2023), the Women Museum Bonn, Germany (2022); Bauschaustelle Düsseldorf, Germany (2022 ); the Radius Gallery, Xi’an (2021). Group exhibitions include Art Fair Singapore (2023), the Artual Gallery, Lebanon (2022); the Beijing Weekend Gallery, Beijing (2022); Fangyuan Art Gallery, Beijing (2022); Galerie Bodenseekreis, Germany (2022); Art Factory HB 55, Berlin ( 2022 ); the Ultramontane Gallery, Hangzhou (2022), and BBK Karlsruhe, Germany (2022). In 2022, she was nominated for the 7th Eb-Dietzsch Art Prize, Germany; Art Prize “Förderpreis Jung + Gegenständlich 2022,” Bodenseekreis, Germany; Bottrop Art Award, Bottrop,Germany; the V.Rothe and R.Hendricks Art Award, Bonn, Germany, and Baustelle Schaustelle Art Prize, Düsseldorf.