ZHIYUAN, WANG (1958 -)

"Untitled" (1992)
oil on paper
39.5 x 57.5cm
signed lower right
*Estate of the late Ray Hughes
 
Zhiyuan is an important, award-winning Contemporary Chinese painter and sculptor. He was born in Tianjin and studied printmaking at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, graduating amongst a slew of Chinese (later Internationally renowned) artists, including Xu Bing, Fang Lijun, Liu Wei and Feng Mengbo. Shortly after training he was exhibited at the Chinese National Art Gallery in 1989. Later that year, in the shadow of Tiananmen, Wang relocated to Australia to explore and develop artistic forms of expression which would enable a new artistic direction and individualism which had be suppressed in China. In Australia he began as a painter, but soon emerged as a premier sculptor, with several works acquired by the National Australia Gallery & Queensland Gallery. He has also exhibited to great acclaim worldwide, including Art Basel in Switzerland. In 2006, he was made chief consultant for the White Rabbit Gallery, assisting in the sourcing and acquisition of the best Contemporary Chinese artworks into Australia, including several of his own pieces. He is currently one of most important and sought after Contemporary Chinese artists in Australia. The work was originally exhibited at the Ray Hughes Gallery, and comes directly from his estate!!