Chen Zhen 陈箴
From ArtSpeak China (ASC) Wiki
Sculptor and installation artist Chen Zhen (1955, Shanghai - 2000, Paris) was among the first generation of Chinese avant-garde artists to travel abroad to study art in the mid-1980s. His compelling sculptures and installations explored his own “trans-experience” studying art in both the East and the West. Chen died suddenly in December, 2000 at the age of 45 due to complications of his lifelong struggle with autoimmune hemolytic anemia.
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Date & Place of Birth
Chen Zhen was born in 1955 in Shanghai, China.
Education & Development
Growing up in Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution, Chen studied ivory engraving at the Shanghai School of Fine and Applied Arts (1973-76) and stage design at the Shanghai Theatre Academy (1978-82). This early training provided him with classical lessons in drawing, painting and sculpture, while helping to develop his sense of three-dimensional space. Chen emigrated to Paris in 1986 where he attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and the Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques. In Paris, he abandoned his earlier classically influenced work in favor of mixed-media installations.
Art
As a result of his training in both Shanghai and Paris, Chen developed his pluralistic artistic style that explored the area between eastern and western thought.[1] Striving toward a common understanding in a world of different perspectives, Chen launched his search for visual and aesthetic common ground. Labeled by Chen as “trans-experience”, this common ground dominated the installations and sculptures that marked his short but productive career.
After turning toward mixed-media installations in Paris, Chen’s work often included found objects from everyday life including beds, chairs, vases, pots, and abacus. Through his installations, these daily objects attained a new spiritual identity independent from their original function. The spectator was most often invited to actively participate in the work by making a noise or making elements move.[2]
The human body also occupied center stage in much of Cheng’s work. Possibly as a result of his own serious illness, which ultimately lead to his death, Chen regarded the body as a mysterious inner landscape. His emphasis was on the necessity on all of the numerous elements cooperating in harmony to facilitate health and survival.[3]
Secondary Activities
Throughout the 1990s, Chen held various teaching positions at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, the Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques, the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts of Nancy, France, and the Center for Contemporary Art, Kitakyushu, Japan. Additionally, Chen traveled to India, Africa, Eastern Europe and Texas where he encouraged homeless and poverty-stricken children to explore their inner creative voices.[4]
Awards & Honors
Chen was awarded a significant number of grants and honors throughout his career from institutions all over the globe. For a complete list of Chen's awards and honors, Click Here
Exhibitions
Chen's first solo exhibition took place in 1986 at the Gallery of the Shanghai Theatre Company in October. During his lifetime, Chen was exhibited in both solo and group shows throughout the world, and continues to be included in exhibitions today. For Chen's CV, Click Here
Gallery Affiliations
Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy
Acquisitions & Auctions
Chen's work is included in dozens of renowned art collections throughout the world including the Musée Léon Dierx, Saint-Denis, La Réunion, France; the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel; the Kroller-Muller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands and the Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Torino, Italy. For more information on the museums and collections in which Chen is featured, click here.
Chen’s sculptures, drawings and paintings have been actively sold at auctions, fetching prices of over USD 600,000. For Chen’s complete auction record, click here.
References
http://www.ps1.org/cut/press/zhen.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_2_91/ai_97551439/
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_11_89/ai_80497097/
http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/chenzhen.html
http://www.galleriacontinua.com/english/artista.html?id_artista=4&s=curriculum
China Art Book. Eds. Uta Grosenick and Caspar H. Schübbe. Cologne, Germany: DuMont Publishers, 2007.
<span style="font-style:normal" />- ↑ http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/chenzhen.html
- ↑ China Art Book. Eds. Uta Grosenick and Caspar H. Schübbe. Cologne, Germany: DuMont Publishers, 2007.
- ↑ China Art Book. Eds. Uta Grosenick and Caspar H. Schübbe. Cologne, Germany: DuMont Publishers, 2007.
- ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_11_89/ai_80497097/
