Wu Jian'an Photo: Luo YunfeiWu Jian'an was born in Beijing in 1980. In 2002, he graduated from the Beijing Broadcasting Institute with a bachelor's degree in Advertising. In 2005, he graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts with a master's degree in Experimental Art and has been teaching there ever since. He is currently a professor and doctoral advisor at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, as well as the deputy dean of the School of Experimental Art and Science and Technology Art.
In 2006, Wu started the practice of artistic creation. Continually challenging himself, breaking through boundaries, and contributing new creative and critical thinking are the most significant values of art Wu believes. For Wu, Chinese and Western cultural traditions and wisdoms, as well as abundant handicraft techniques, are the source of inspiration for his artistic creation: His "Daydream" series (2003 - ongoing) encompasses various forms, including Xuan paper engraving and brass. Through exquisite lines and engraving techniques, this series attempts to express real-life crises via abstract individual spiritual experiences. Works such as The Heaven of Nine Levels (2009-2011), Seven Layered Shell (2011-2012), "Omens" series (2016-), the "Masks" series (2018-), and the "Invisible Faces" series (2019-) explore various materials, including recycled leather, simulated specimens, metal, and glass. These pieces are centered around ancient myths, historical stories, and classic texts from both Eastern and Western traditions. They reflect the artist's profound interest in animals, great nature, and organic materials. Through imaginative collaboration with traditional craft experts, Wu Jian'an promotes the revival and innovation of traditional techniques and concepts. His "Incarnation" series (2015 - ongoing) includes 186 kinds of figures inspired by ancient Chinese geographic literature "Shan Hai Jing," slang visualizations, elements from Christian, Buddhist, and Indian mythology, graffiti, cartoons, and more. These works, consisting of iconic wax-infused paper-cut collages, gradually expand into a complex and uniquely creative system of thinking and expression. The 500 Brushstrokes series (2016 - ongoing), inspired by the artist's public art project Behold the Monkey King at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, on one hand, by blending the boundaries between ink painting and paper cutting, as well as painting and collage, the artist conducts experimental expressions of "abstraction" and "action." On the other hand, by visiting various countries and regions—such as Peru (2024), Nanhai in Guangdong, China (2023), Pannier-Than in Canada (2022, 2023), Jingdezhen in Jiangxi, China (2022), and Echigo-Tsumari in Japan (2018), etc —the artist introduces specific communities and groups into the work, attempting to preserve the vibrant individual vitality and the "collective portrait" of the times.
The core of Wu’s artistic contemplation and visual creation lies in expressing the eternal aspects of human civilization through seemingly distant contexts from today's life. His works awaken the vast and profound subconscious feelings within individuals, prompting reflection and observation of the era and humanity. Simultaneously, Wu Jian'an's creations are driven by a continuous innovation in visual methods, preserving the unique sharpness and appeal of his works while integrating narrative into his artistic language. He remains committed to constructing and expressing a distinctive worldview and persistently exploring the fundamental principles of human vision and craftsmanship.
Credited for the far-reaching impact of his artistic practice, Wu received “The Asian Cultural Council 2021 Grants”, which made him the only visual artist in China to receive this award that year. In recent years, he has also received the “The Arts Bridge Artist of the Year”(Guangxi Normal University Press, ACC Art Books, Images Publisher), the“Influential 2023: Forbes China Contemporary Young Artists” (Forbes China), the “2020 Best of the Best Awards for Artists”(Robb Report), the “2018 40 Under 40 Awards”(Perspective), the “2017 Young Power”(Southern People Weekly), and several other cultural awards bestowed by influential medias and institutes. In 2019, he was selected for CCTV's Documentary Channel production, “The Innovation of China", which was also his first personal documentary.
Selected Public Art Exhibition
Shifting Fields: Contemporary Chinese Painting (Stanford University, California, USA, 2024)
Border crossing: Possibilities and Interactions (Yuz Museum Shanghai, Shanghai, China, 2023)
Lines of Thought: Gestural Abstraction in the BAMPFA Collection (Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, USA, 2022)
SUPER FUSION: 2021 Chengdu Biennale (Tianfu Art Park, Chengdu, China, 2021)
Glasstress: Window to the Future (The State Hermitage Museum, Russia, 2021)
KAIWU: Art et design en Chine (Musée de l’Hospice Comtesse, France, 2021)
The Endless Life—the Narrative of the Yellow River (The Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, Ningxia, China, 2020)
Art and Archaeology (Naples National Archaeological Museum, Italy, 2019)
Serpenti Form (Art Science Museum, Singapore, Singapore; Mori Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; Chengdu Museum, China, 2017-2019)
The 7th Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial (Echigo-Tsumari, Japan, 2018)
Generation by Generation: The 57th Venice Biennale China Pavilion (Venice, 2017)
The Carolyn Hsu and René Balcer Collection: Exploring Three Decades of Contemporary Chinese Art (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA, 2015)
Cosmos (Shanghai 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2014)
ALLES UNTER DEM HIMMEL GEHORT ALLEN, Chinese Public Art in Kassel (Brüder Grimm-Museum Kassel, Germany, 2012)
Mind in Landscape (The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington DC, USA, 2011)
Live and Let Live: Creators of Tomorrow—The 4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial (Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan, 2009),etc.
Selected Public Art Collections
CHINA
Beijing Minsheng Art Museum (Beijing)
Start Art Museum (Shanghai)
Guangdong Art Museum (Guangzhou)
Guardian Art Center (Beijing)
Central Academy of Fine Art Museum (Beijing)
Epoch Art Museum (Wenzhou)
Chenyidan Charity Foundation (Shenzhen)
Bridging Hope Charity Foundation, Beijing (Beijing)
HSBC Jade Center (Beijing)
USA
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University (Ithaca)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles)
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley)
Fidelity International Art Collection (Luxembourg)
Kalamazoo Institute of Art（Michigan）
21C Museum Hotel（Kentucky）
AUSTRALIA
The White Rabbit Gallery (New South Wales)
Lal Lal Art Museum (Melbourne)
JAPAN
Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (Fukuoka)
BRAZIL
Oscar Niemeyer Museum (Curitiba)
KOREA
Committee of Cheongju International Craft Biennal (Cheongju)
Community Involvement
A guest expert in the Institute of Research at the National Museum of China
A member of the Academic Advisory Board at Prince Kung’s Palace Museum
A member of the Academic Advisory Board at the Chengdu Museum
A fellow at the Chinese Traditional Handicraft Research and Conservation Center
The deputy director of the Traditional Craft Coordination and Innovation Working Committee at the China Arts and Crafts Association
A member of the Academic Advisory Board at the Beijing Zoo.
2022, to serve as a judge of the "Carbon Neutral Public Welfare Communication Project - Cultural and Art Works Creation Collection and Selection Activity" launched by the World Wide Fund for Nature and NYLON Magazine.
2021, to serve as a judge for the "Earth Restoration Project Art Competition" held by Trella Forest Science and Technology and Cornell University.
2020, to serve as a judge of the "Luo Zhong Scholarship" of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts.
Participation in public welfare and charity activities
In 2022, Wu was invited to participate in the public welfare auction initiated by Land Rover China and Soong Ching Ling Foundation, and the digital art work "Cosmic Energy Switching Between the Tiger and the Car in an Instant" was auctioned, and all of the donations were raised and donated to Jaguar Land Rover Hope Primary School in Zhaotong, Yunnan.
In 2021, he was invited to host the important event of "World No Tobacco Day" initiated by the World Health Organization Representative Office in China, integrating his representative "500 Brushstrokes" series of work with the concept of health, inviting people from all walks of life to integrate the commitment to smoking cessation and health into every creation, and donate the work to the World Health Organization.
Since 2019, he has donated his works to charity auctions 3 times, and the proceeds of the auction have been used for traditional handicraft support, donations for the elderly and nurses suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic, etc.