Zhou Chunya

Zhou Chunya (Chinese, b.1955) is a painter best known for his series of Green Dog paintings. He studied at the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, which educated students in creating art that would serve as political propaganda during the Cultural Revolution. During this time, Zhou traveled to Tibet and painted a series depicting nomad life according to the Socialist Realist style. At the same time, Zhou embraced Western techniques of painting, and was inspired by German Expressionism while studying in Kassel, Germany. Eastern and Western influences converge in his Green Dog series, begun in the 1990s, which depicts his German Shepherd painted green.

The dynamic, aggressive brushstrokes recall German Expressionism as well as ancient Chinese calligraphy, while the dog itself is a symbolic self-portrait. In 1999, Zhou began to paint peach blossoms with pink men and women in an embrace, combining the traditional Chinese subject of the peach blossom with a modern and liberal approach to sexuality. Zhou’s series of landscapes feature a more muted palette of dark browns and depict jagged rocks and trees. His Landscape Series No.5 appears almost abstract with brushstrokes reminiscent of ancient Chinese landscapes. A retrospective of 30 years of his work was held at the Shanghai Art Museum in 2010. His work has been exhibited at many international galleries and museums, including the Shanghai Gallery of Art, the National Art Museum in Beijing, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. He currently lives and works in Chengdu, China.

1955 Born, Chongqing, Sichuan Province
1982 Graduated from the Department Painting, Sichuan Academy of Fine Art, China
1988 Graduated from Experiment Art Department, Kassel Academy of Fine Art. Kassel, Germany
Currently lives and works in Chengdu

■ Solo Exhibitions
2010 “Flora and Fauna”, Solo show at ARCO Madrid, Spain
2007 Zhou Chunya, ChinaToday Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2006 Zhou Chunya: Three on the Bund, Shanghai Gallery, Shanghai, China
2002 Green Dogs, 314 International Art Centre Bergen, Norway,
1997 Beizhuang Gallery, Taibei, Taiwan,
1994 Xiaoya Gallery, Taibei, Taiwan,

■ Selected Group Exhibitions
2007 Red Hot! Asian Art from the Chaney Family Collection, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
2006 Zhou Chunya, Zeng FanZhi and Ji DaChun Longrun Art, Beijing China
Ten Years, Chinese Contemporary Gallery, Beijing, China
Blue House Artists, Chinese Contemporary, Beijing, China
2005 Living in Chengdu Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Oil Painting, 18 Chinese Contemporary Artists, Soobin Art Gallery, Singapore
Focus on China WBK Vrije Academie Den Haan Holland
Biennale International D’Art Contemporain Chinois de Montpellier France
Land of Warmth – the opening exhibition of Red Bridge Gallery, Shanghai, China
2004 Dreaming of Dragon’s Nation-Contemporary Art Exhibition from China Irish Museum of Modern Art, Ireland
Living in Chengdu-Inviting Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Oil Paing ShenZhen Art Museum China
New Works by Liu Wei, Zheng ZaiDong, Zhou ChunYa Shanghai Gallery of Art at Three on the Bund
Beyond Boundaries, Shanghai Gallery of Art at Three on the Bund, Shanghai
2003 Alors, La China Centre Pompidou, Paris France
Six Marks of the Paintbrush Gallery Miejska Arsenal, Pozna
Made in China, Fondation D’Art Contemporian Florence-Daniel Guerlain, Paris, France
BWA-Salon Sztuki Wspolczesnej, Bydgoszcz, Miejska Sztuki, Lodz Gallery, Bielska BWA, Bielsko-Biala, Poland
2002 The First GuangZhouTriennial Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Dream 02 Contemporary Chinese art, The Red Mansion Foundation, London
Zhou Chun Ya, Museum of Art Modern Contemporary, Trento Italy
2001 Towards a New Image, National Art Museum, Beijing, Shanghai Art Museum, Sichuan Art Museum, Guangdong Art Museum, China
The First Chengdu Biennial, Chengdu Museum of Modern Art, Chengdu, China
Five Chinese Avant-garde artists, Seoul, Korea
2000 Chinese Oil Painting in the 20th Century, National Art Museum, Beijing
1999 Liberation, Chinese Contemporary London, England
China, Limn Gallery San Francisco, CA

1998 Green Dog & Masters, Chinese Contemporary London, England
East Meets East in the West, Limn Gallery, San Francisco, USA
1997 8 Avant- Garde Chinese Artists, Soobin Art Gallery, Singapore
The Works of Zhou Chunya, Taipei Nothern Banker Art & Culture Art Gallery Taipei, China
1996 The First Shanghai Biennale, Art Museum Shanghai, Shanghai
China! (Chinese Contemporary Art), Art Museum Bonn, Germany
1994 The Annual Exhibition of Works of the Artists Nominated by Art Critics, National Art Museum, Beijing
The Works of Zhou Chunya, Taipei, China
1993 China’s New Art, Post-1989, Art Central, Hong Kong
1992 The First 90 Guangzhou Biennale, Exhibiting Central, Guangzhou
1987 The Works of Zhou Chunya, Düsseldorf, Germany
Zhou Chunya Invitational Exhibition, Linz, Austria
1981 Seconds Chinese youth Exhibition, National Art Museum, Beijing