Intelligence is needed to glue disciplines together and make coherence among them, and art is the approach to realize this intelligent process, to comprehend the world as a whole.
—Zhang Xiaoli
In her paintings, drawings, and prints, Zhang Xiaoli (b.1989) transforms classical Chinese mediums to create nuanced, captivating images that are at once playful and contemplative. The pictorial world of Zhang Xiaoli is composed of classically-inspired landscapes, ancient games, science, and its mystical counterparts. Her eclectic choices of subject matter stem partly from her unique experience of double majoring in Fine Arts and Biology while at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The supposedly opposing forces that are art and science find new harmony in Zhang’s artistic creations, offering holistic ways of understanding the world.
The interdisciplinary approach taken by the artist allows Zhang to collect elements from different domains—cosmology, physics, alchemy, biology, Chinese philosophy—and synthesize them into an integrated whole that imitates a kind of mental “cabinet of curiosities.” Her series Spiritual Wunderkammern draws from these inspirations and explores the clash of ideologies in an age of information overload. By juxtaposing classical landscapes with modern inventions and scientific references, Zhang investigates how one combines these different schools of thought in creating a virtual wunderkammern.
Classically inspired landscapes have remained an essential part in Zhang Xiaoli’s work. From her early project Dialogue Between Pop Culture and Traditional Chinese Painting, where she introduced the visual vocabulary of Lego toys to traditional Chinese landscape paintings, to her most recent project Surrealism in Landscape, landscape provides a nodal point in understanding Zhang’s practice. In Portable Landscape series, it is the bridge that connects tradition with contemporary culture, especially consumerism. Elsewhere, landscapes are elements of a game, an entry point towards Dao, or spiritual retreats during a pandemic. In creating what she calls the “postmodern landscapes” of this era, Zhang Xiaoli signals a pictorial return to nature and classicism, and injects this timeless tradition with a renewed confidence.
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Rubik’s Rock Cube 魔方石 , 2024
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Box unlimited 无限展开的盒子, 2023
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Infinite Loop 江山无尽, 2023
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Mobiüs II 莫比乌斯 II, 2023
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The Portrait 肖像, 2023
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Mountain Villa of Embracing Beauty 环秀山庄, 2022-2023
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Crawling Pine 爬行的松, 2022
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Learning from Joseph Cornell 向康奈尔学习, 2022
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The Enigma of Time 时间之迷, 2022
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Duo 复调 , 2021
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Mount Nameless, 2021
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The Dawn 既白, 2021
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The Story of Stones 石头记, 2021
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The Special Moment 特别的时刻 , 2019
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Spring and Winter in the Blue Tray 蓝托盘里的冬和春, 2018
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Scholars Rock 湖石, 2016
Education
2021 | Received Master of Fine Arts degree at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China |
2014 |
Received Bachelor Degree with First Honour, double major in Fine Arts |
and Biology,at the Chinese University of Hong Kong | |
2010 | Exchange student at the University of California at Berkeley, USA |
2008 |
Received the Ms. Chu Lam Yiu Full Scholarship |
Moved to Hong Kong to study at the Chinese University of Hong Kong |
Selected Award
2023 |
Liu Kuo-Sung Ink Art Award |
2021 |
Outstanding Graduation Work Award, Central Academy of Fine Arts |
2014 |
Y.S. Hui Fine Arts Award |
Wucius Wong Creative Ink Painting Award | |
2013 | Convocation Outstanding Creativity Student Award 2012/2013, |
Chinese University of Hong Kong | |
2008 | Ms. Chu Lam Yiu Full Scholarship |
Solo Exhibition
2024 | Whimsical Maze, Fu Qiumeng Fine Art, New York, USA |
2023 |
Zhang Xiaoli: Spectacular at the Tannhauser Gate, Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China |
2020 | Li Galaxy, Tong Gallery & Projects+, Beijing, China |
2019 | Chen-Kwan, Daguan Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan |
Selected Group Exhibition
2023 |
Expectation @Search @Algorithm, Yiguan Art Centre, Nanjing, China |
Ink Asia: Liu Kuo-sung Ink Art Award, HKCEC, Hong Kong, China The Highest Virtue Resembles Water, United Nations Headquarters, New York, NY, USA Ink Alchemy: Beyond Tradition, Alisan Fine Art, Hongkong, China |
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2022 |
The Rain Refreshens, Fu Qiumeng Fine Art, New York, NY, USA |
Art Basel Hong Kong x Artique, HKCECE, Hong Kong, China |
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2021 | Suzhou Garden Art Festival, Cang Lang Ting Garden, Suzhou |
2020 | Contemporary Forms of Ink Painting, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong |
2019 | Art Basel 2019, HKCEC,Hong Kong |
The Thirteenth National Art Exhibition Guang Dong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China | |
2018 |
ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai Exhibition Centre, |
Shanghai, China |
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2017 |
Desiring: Post 97 Hong Kong Ink Art, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong |
2016 |
Beijing Youth Art Biennial, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China |
2015 |
Senses: Exhibition of Works by Young Emerging Hong Kong Artist, |
University Museum & Art Gallery, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong |
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2014 |
Fresh Trend 2014, Hong Kong City Hall, Hong Kong |
Graduation Show of Fine Arts Department The Art Museum of Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong |
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News | Fu Qiumeng Fine Art Announces Acquisition of Zhang Xiaoli’s Works by Harn Museum and Exhibition Feature
Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida October 15, 2024We’re thrilled to announce the Harn Museum at the University of Florida ’s acquisition of Zhang Xiaoli’s Spring and Winter in the Blue Tray (2018)...Read more -
News | FQM Artist Zhang Xiaoli’s works are on view at Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University September 6, 2024Fu Qiumeng Fine Art is excited to announce that our artist Zhang Xiaoli will be featured in the current group exhibition, Escape Velocities: New Acquisitions...Read more -
News | Publication of Fang Xian’s article The “Unorthodox” Artistic Perspectives of Young Contemporary Artists
Artists (美术家) art journal June 18, 2024We are delighted to announce the publication of Fang Xian’s article The “Unorthodox” Artistic Perspectives of Young Contemporary Artists, highlighting FQM artists Zhang Xiaoli and...Read more -
News | Zhang Xiaoli's "Box Unlimited" Acquired by Mark H. Reece Collection at Wake Forest University
May 31, 2024Fu Qiumeng Fine Art is delighted to announce that artist Zhang Xiaoli's work 'Box Unlimited' (2023) is acquired by Mark H. Reece Collection at Wake...Read more -
News | Zhang Xiaoli, has been interviewed and featured in Artnet in the article & Podcast Interview with The Scholart
"Zhang Xiaoli Upends Traditional Chinese Painting Techniques in Her ‘Mini Zoo’ of a Studio," March 1, 2024Fu Qiumeng Fine Art is thrilled to announce that our artist, Zhang Xiaoli, has been interviewed and featured in Artnet in the article titled 'Zhang...Read more -
News | Eight FQM Artists showcase their works at the United Nations
IN CELEBRATION OF CHINESE LANGUAGE DAY 2023 April 21, 2023In celebration of the 2023 United Nations Chinese Language Day, the Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the UN, the Chinese Translation...Read more -
Press | Artnet's interview with Zhang Xiaoli
Author: Gerald Lee August 18, 2022Zhang Xiaoli’s studio is nestled in a village not far from the airport, tucked behind a BBQ restaurant named “Wang Xiaoshuai Kungfu Grill”, (which has...Read more -
News | Asia Week NY's Member Monday Featuring Fu Qiumeng Fine Art
Asia Week New York July 12, 2022In “Member Monday” published on Asia Week New York, featured Fu Qiumeng and her career trajectory. The article tells the story of Fu's career change,...Read more