ZHANG ZHAOHUI
I was born into a military/intellectual family in Heibei province, China in 1965 and grew up in a military compound in Beijing. In the 1970’s, I started my dream of becoming an artist at a young age by studying traditional calligraphy and ink brush painting at the Children’s Palace in Haidian District. I failed to be admitted to the high school associated with the Central Academy of Fine Art in 1980, so I applied to the museum study program in Nankai University to study art history in a museum backdrop. I had been working at the National Museum of Art in Beijing as an assistant curator of modern art for 7 years before I decided to continue my studies in New York. In 1996, I enrolled in the Curatorial Studies MA program at Bard College, supported by Asian Cultural Council fellowship.
I returned to Beijing in 1998. I had been deeply involved in the contemporary art movement as an independent curator and freelance writer for nearly 10 years, trying to foster a better art milieu in China. I gradually came to realize that the career of an artist is my top life selection when I was 40 years old. Therefore, I gave up the role of art observer, and shifted my identity to an art practitioner exploring the potentials of transferring the ancient media of ink painting into a contemporary art form.
My work has been informed by my previous experience and knowledge of art history, theory and involvement in the art scene. Luckily, my art exploration has been gradually recognized by art establishments at home and abroad. Many solo shows and group exhibitions have been staged worldwide and 10 museums have collected my works including the Art Institute of Chicago, Denver Art Museum and Fukuoka Asian Art Museum.
张朝晖简介
我1965年出生于中国河北的行伍家庭，并在北京的部队大院长大。在1970年代初我就梦想长大以后做一位艺术家， 因此开始在北京海淀区少年宫学习传统书画艺术。1980年投考中央美术学院附中失利后，考入到南开大学历史系博物馆专业，并专注于艺术史。毕业之后在北京中国美术馆工作，负责策展项目。在美国亚洲文化理事会赞助下，我来到纽约巴德学院学习当代艺术策展。
我于1998年回到北京， 作为一名独立策展人和自由评论家， 我积极投身到各种艺术活动中，并持续了十余年，试图帮助建立一个比较好的艺术生态。但在我40岁左右的时候，我逐步意识到自己的最终人生目标是做一位艺术家。 因此我毅然放弃了艺术观察者的角色，从而重新定位自己的艺术家使命， 试图将传统的水墨媒介转化为当代艺术形式。
我前半生的艺术经验，工作经历以及对艺术历史理论的学习对我的艺术思考和实践产生了很大的帮助。幸运的是我的艺术探索逐步得到海内外艺术权威的积极评价。在世界各地举办了许多各类展览，国际知名博物馆也收藏了我的水墨作品，例如美国的芝加哥艺术博物馆, 丹佛艺术博物馆和日本的福冈亚洲艺术博物馆等。
