Shang Yang

Throughout his more than 30 years of creation, Shang Yang has constantly sought breakthroughs and introspection in his artistic language, while advancing the spiritual core of his works in a rigorous and highly discursive direction. As early as the early 1990s, Shang Yang’s works began to discuss the genre of human beings and the environment in a precise and relevant manner, and wrapped in his own Chinese literati temperament, he continued to reflect on this issue in the profound and evolving experience of time and personal life. At the same time, Shang Yang continues to seek visual objects and means of communication that are both relevant to the times and capable of carrying his profound thoughts, thus supporting his raison d’être as a contemporary visual artist.

1942  Born in Hubei Province; Kai County, Sichuan Province by Origin

1960  Graduated from the Attached Middle School of Hubei Institute of Fine Arts

1965  Graduated from the Department of Oil Painting of Fine Art Department of Hubei Institute of Fine Arts

          Art editor of Hubei People’s Press

1981  Graduated with M.A. in Oil Painting Department from Hubei Institute of Fine Arts

1985  Trustee of Chinese Artists Association.1987 Professor of Hubei Institute of Fine Arts

1989  Vice President of Hubei Institute of Fine Arts

1993  Professor of South China Normal University, Director of the Art Institute of South China Normal University

1995  Vice-Chairman of Chinese Oil Painting Association

1997  Professor in Fine Arts Academy of Capital Normal University

2009  China Artists Association, Vice-Director of the Oil Painting Department

2010  Community member of China National Academy of Painting

2011   Researcher of China National Academy of Painting

Solo Exhibitions

2018  Shang Yang: Decayed Landscape and Cataract, Chambers Fine Art, New York, U.S.A.

2013   Shang Yang’s Art in Suzhou, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China

2012  Shang Yang: Diaries and Scripts, VA Center, Academy of Arts & Design Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

2009  Shang Yang: Dong Qichang Project, Beijing Center for the Arts, Beijing, China

Group Exhibitions

2019  Art World in Painting Screen, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China

          China Landscape: Selections from Taikang Collection, Beijing, China

          Painting and Existence: Chinese, Japanese and Korean Abstract Painting Travelling Exhibition, Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong; Whitestone Gallery, Taiwan; Karuizawa New Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

2018  New Ink Art in China 1978-2018, Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China

          Breaking the Barrier: 2018 Xi’an Contemporary Art Exhibition, Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China

          Risonanza Cinese, Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, Italy

          Art History 40 x 40: Viewing Contemporary Chinese Art since 1978 by 40 Artists, Powerlong Art Museum, Shanghai, China

          Eastern Peach – Blossom Source: Inheriting, Responding to Traditional Aesthetics and Developing Chinese Contemporary Art, Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei Art Zone, Leipzig, Germany

          A State of Mind, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China

          Approach Spirits, N3 Contemporary Art, Beijing, China

          United Art Museum Collection Exhibition, United Art Museum, Wuhan, China

2017  Memory & Contemporary: The 57th International Art Exhibition La Biennale Di Venezia Official · Parallel Exhibition of China, Venice, Italy

          Tracing the Past and Shaping the Future: Powerlong Inaugural Exhibition, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China

          Crisscrossing East and West: The Remaking of Ink Art in Contemporary East Asia，Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art, Yinchuan, China

          Image of the Mind: Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition, The Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, U.S.A.

          Boundless Realities, Multiple Nows: Contemporary Art from Hubei as a Sample, Wanlin Art Museum, Wuhan, China

          Song Art Museum The First Exhibition: From Vincent Willem Van Gogh to Chinese Contemporary Art, Song Art Museum, Beijing, China

          Aura and Vitality: 12 Oriental Aesthetic Samples in Contemporary Art, Hive Center for Contemporary Art (Shenzhen), Shenzhen, China

          South of The Mountains: 11 Contemporary Chinese Artists, Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy

          Biennale China – Italia, Basilica Palladiana, Vicenza, Italy

2016  Too Loud a Solitude: Stalkers of Chinese Contemporary Art, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China

          Flat and Distant: China/Slovenia – Contemporary Art, Maribor Art Museum, Slovenia; Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

          Arte de China, Diego Rivera Museum, Mexico City, Mexico 

          Resonance Chinoise, Exposition itinerante internationale de la peinture à l’huile chinoise, Palais Brongniart, Paris, France

          Beyond Image: The Oil Paintings from China, China Cultural Center, Stockholm, Sweden

          Significant Presence: The Third Chinese Oil Painting Biennale, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          Unexpected Encounter: Chinese Imagery Oil Painting by Five Artists, New Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China

          Image Pool, Ginkgo Art Center, Beijing, China

          Experimenting China in Peru – APEC “Human and Nature” Art Exhibition, Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Antropologia e Historia del Peru, Lima, Peru

          The Transformation of Chinese Freehand into Contemporary Art, Museo Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, Mexico City, Mexico

2015  The Boundaries of Order, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China

          The Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Art of China, Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China

          Confronting Anitya: Oriental Experience in Contemporary Art, Museum Angerlehner, Wels, Austria

          2^nd Nanjing International Art Festival, Nanjing International Exhibition Center, Nanjing, China

          Revolution in Tradition, China’s Post – Ink Painting Era, Natani·Ovadia Gallery, Paris, France 

          Cultural Context: Chinese Contemporary Art Invitational Exhibition, Castiglia Art Center, Saluzzo, Italy; Arts Center of Athens, Athens, Greece

          Three and One Thirds: Shang Yang × Xu Bing × Liang Shaoji, Kylin Contemporary Center of Art, Beijing, China

2014  In Silence – China Contemporary Art, Sydney City Hall, Australia

          Chinese New Expressionism: Special Invitation Exhibition 1980 – 2014, Shanghai, China

          The Edge of Vision, Linda Gallery, Beijing, China

          The Immortal Scenery, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China

          Experience China – Chinese Contemporary Oil Painting Exhibition, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France

          Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and France: Invitational Exhibition of 50 Chinese Artists, Hotel de Ville, Paris, France

2013  Visibility – 2013 SPSI Art Museum Invitational Oil Painting Exhibition, Shanghai Oil Painting and Sculpture Institute, Shanghai, China

          Infinity: Zhan Zhou International 2013 Invitational Exhibition, Beijing World Art Museum of the China Millennium Monument, Beijing, China

2012  Social Scenery: 2012 Suzhou Jin Ji Hu Biennale, Basel Contemporary Art Museum, Suzhou, China

          The Natural Temperament: The Chinese Painting of Tomorrow, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

          The Form of Formless: The Art Exhibition of Chinese Culture Year 2012, Kunstwerk Carlshütte, Hamburg, Germany

          Opening and Fusing: Chinese Contemporary Art, Hungarian National Art Museum, Budapest, Hungary

          2012  China Contemporary Art Exhibition, London Olympic Art Center, London, U.K.

          Scene 2012 – China New Art, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

          Re – Ink, Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, China

          2012  Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          Through All Ages: Long Museum Opening Series Exhibition, Long Museum, Shanghai, China

2011  Shanshui – Poetry without Sound? Landscape in Chinese Contemporary Art, Kunstmuseum Lucerne, Switzerland

          Remote from Streams and Mountains: New Painting from China, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, U.S.A.

          Percorso: Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Museum of Monreale, Palermo, Italy

          New Realm, Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, National Museum of Australia, Sydney, Australia

          East Dawning: Exhibition on the 30th Anniversary of China Art Gallery, National Museum of China, Beijing, China

          Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu Eastern Music Park, Chengdu, China

2010  The State of Things: Contemporary Art from China and Belgium, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          Reshaping History: China New Art from 2000 to 2009, China National Convention Center, Beijing, China

          Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art 1979 – 2009, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China

          The Third Abstract: Chinese Contemporary Ink Painting Exhibition, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Art, Shanghai, China

          Reconstruction: The Top Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Abstract Art, Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou; Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

          Percorso: Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Old City Art Gallery, Spoleto, Italy

          Oil Painting Art and Modern Social – Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          New Wave of Chinese Contemporary Art, California State University, Sacramento, U.S.A.

          Pure Views: Remote Form, Streams and Mountains, Chinese New Painting Exhibition, Louise Blouin Foundation, London, U.K.

          The Seventh Shenzhen International Ink Art Biennale, Shenzhen Painting College, Shenzhen, China

2009  Ink not Ink: Chinese Contemporary Ink and Wash Art Exhibition, Drexel University Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, U.S.A.

          Ink not Ink: Chinese Contemporary Ink and Wash Art Exhibition, Warsaw Royal Castle, Poland; Hungarian Agricultural Museum, Budapest, Hungary; The National Museum of Contemporary Art of Romania, Bucharest, Romania; Sculpture Museum of the Croatian Academy of Science and Arts, Croatia

          Yi School: Century Thinking, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

          Trends in Hubei and Hunan: Chinese Contemporary in Hubei & Hunan 1985 – 2009, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China 

          New Image: Contemporary Chinese Ink and Paper Art Exhibition, Belarus National Gallery, Minsk, Belarus

          Open sight: Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, The Czech National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic

          State of Affairs: Europalia, China Art Festival Exhibition, Belgian Royal Palace of Fine Arts, Belgium

          Traditional Easter, Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Basis Space, Frankfurt, Germany

          Collision: 27 Cases of Chinese Contemporary Art, Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
          Context: Spiritual Elite – Chinese Version of the Contemporary Art Exhibition, Nanjing Qinghe Art Gallery, Nanjing; Beijing Art America Fund, Beijing, China

          New Chinese Art 60 Years, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

2008  Yi School: Thirty Years of Chinese Abstraction, La Caixa Forum Museum of Parma, Italy; Barcelona, Madrid, Spain

          Inside, Outside Images: The Invitational Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Oil Paintings, Yu Xin Art Museum, Singapore

          The Third Beijing International Art Biennale, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          2D and 3D, Negotiating Visual Languages, PMK Gallery, Beijing, China

          Hypallage – The Post-Modern Mode of Chinese Contemporary Art, OCT Art & Design Gallery, Shenzhen, China

          Ink Not Ink: Chinese Modern Ink and Wash Art Exhibition, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen; Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

          Pursuing Source and Doctrine: Oil Painting Research Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          The Grit Between The Stones, A Meeting Between Swedish and Chinese Contemporary Painting, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China; Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, Sweden

2007  The Scenery of Desire-Shang Yang and His Students Art Exhibition, Bridge Gallery, Beijing; Museum of Contemporary Art Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, China

          Opening China, The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

          Green Landscape: Traveling Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese and German Artists, Lübeck Art Gallery, Historisches Museum der Pfalz, Speyer Germany

          Scenery – Nature·Heart, The National Museum of Finland, Helsinki, Finland

          On Ink and Wash- A Dialogue between Contemporary Artists, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China

          Awakening from a Ten-Year Sleep, HJY Art Center, Beijing, China

          Contemporary Cultural Venation – China Version Comprehensive Art Exhibition，Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

2006  Expanding Realism: Chinese Mainland Oil Painting from 1978, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taiwan, China

          Today China Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

2005  Nature and Human: The Second Contemporary China Landscape Painting (Oil Landscape Painting) Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          Up and Down the Great River: A Retrospection of New Era’s Chinese Oil Painting, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

2004  Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Art from China, France and Korea, International Art Gallery, Beijing, China

          Baishi/Youji, Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai; Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China

2003  An Opening Era, Celebration Exhibition of 40th Anniversary of Founding of China National Museum of Fine Arts, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          Beijing International Art Biennial, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          Premieres Lueurs sur L’Orient — L’aventure de la peinture chinoise au 20ème siècle, Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris, France

          Praising Spirit – New Expressionism Oil Painting of Chinese Master, Liu Hai Su Art Museum, Shanghai, China

          The Third Exhibition of Fine Pieces of Chinese Oil Painting, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

2002  The First Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China

          The First Triennial of Chinese Arts, Guangzhou Art Museum, Guangzhou, China

          Century Demeanor, Exhibition of China’s Contemporary Art Masters, Beijing World Art Museum, Beijing; The China Millennium Monument, Beijing, China

          Concept Image: 2002, China Modern Oil Painting Invitational Exhibition, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China

2001  Science, Technology and Art, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          The First Chengdu Biennial, Chengdu International Conference Center, Chengdu, China

2000  The Gate of Century – Invitational Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art, Chengdu International Conference Center, Chengdu, China

          The 20th Century Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          The Chinese Art Contemporary Exhibition, Bulayda Art Museum, Padua, Italy

          The Chinese Contemporary Oil Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong

          The Chinese Ideology and Performance of Art Exhibition, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Shanghai, China

1999  The Chinese Culture and Contemporary Art Exhibition, Lehman Institute Art Museum, U.S.A.

          The Joint Exhibition of Chinese and Italian Artists, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China

1998  The Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Young Museum of Palazzo, Mantova, Italy

          The 50-Year Chinese Painting Exhibition, Sino-Japanese Hall of Friendship, Tokyo, Japan

          Twenty-year Revelation of Chinese Contemporary Art, Working People’s Cultural Palace, Beijing, China

          ‘98 Asia- Pacific Contemporary Art Exhibition, Fuzhou Art Museum, Fuzhou, China

1997  The Twelfth Asian Art Exhibition, Museu de Art de Macau, Macau, China

          The Chinese Art Exhibition, Liu Hai Su Art Museum, Shanghai, China

1994  Post- ’89 Chinese New Art Exhibition, Marlborough Gallery, London, U.K.

          Exhibition of Art Critics Nomination of the Year, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          Post-89 Chinese New Art Exhibition, Hong Kong Arts Center, Hong Kong; Sydney Contemporary Art Museum, Sydney, Australia

1993  The International Summer Art Festival in Heimbach, Heimbach, Germany

          The Sino-Japanese Modern Painting Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          The Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong

1991  The Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Gontsu Art Gallery, Yamanashi, Japan

1989  The Contemporary Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition, Sino-Japanese Hall of Friendship, Tokyo, Japan

          The 7th National Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

          Eight Artists’ Oil Painting Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

1987  Chinese Contemporary Oil Painting Exhibition, Tokyo and 9 other cities, Japan

          The First China Oil Painting Exhibition, Shanghai Exhibition Hall, Shanghai, China

1986  The Third Contemporary World Art Exhibition, New Delhi, India

          The Chinese Contemporary Oil Painting Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

1964  National Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

Awards

2013  The seventh Award of Art China, Lifetime Achievement Award, The Palace Museum, Beijing, China

2010  Honored with Wu Zuoren Plastic Arts Award, Wu Zuoren International Fine Arts Foundation, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

2009  The Third Annual  Forum of Chinese Critics, Honored with the Award of Artist, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

2006  Chinese Contemporary Art Document Exhibition, Honored with the Award of Literature, The China Millennium Monument Art Museum, Beijing, China

1997  The First Academy Invitational Art Exhibition, Honored with the Award of Dedication, Hong Kong Art Museum, Hong Kong

1992  The First 1990’s Biennial Art Fair, Honored with the Academic Award, Guangzhou International Exhibition Center, Guangzhou, China

1991  The First Annual of Chinese Oil Painting, Honored with the Award of Distinction, National Museum of China, Beijing, China

1984  The Sixth National Art Exhibition, honored with the Award of Excellent Works, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China