Dan Zhu
Dan Zhu (1985) creates a magical world in a refined style in which for instance mussels can string together like a stick and walk on the beach probing the sand. In another work A Trip to an Image she uses the setting of a train window to frame the imagery, where leaves, flowers, flying creatures and planets pass by simultaneously as in a dream in which everything has its meaning. To Dan Zhu Trip to an Image is a metapher for the path she has to follow in her development. In recent work she explores natural forms, switching from macro to a micro level and using parallel perspectives that bring movement and dynamics into the image
In traditional Chinese painting the concept of Spirit Resonance is important. It means that an object of figure does not have to be scientifically accurate but the spirit evoked by the movements of a figure or object must be precious. On the other hand she is also inspired by Western art with a preference for artist like Hilma Af Klint or outsider artitst like Henry Darger or Guo Fengyi. Painting skills from the east and the west are equally valid to her: “the roads are different but the goals are the same. Curators or art historians are always swimming along the river. But artists are jumping all over the place.”
1985 | born in Jiangxi, China |
education |
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2003 – 2007 | Bachelor of communication theory, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China |
2007 – 2009 | Master of design at Communication University of China, Beijing, China |
2010 – 2020 | Hochschule für Kunst und Gestaltung, Offenbach am Main, Germany |
2016 | KASK Gent (Erasmus semester), Belgium |
2018 – 2019 | Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, NL |
lives and works in Shenyang, China | |
solo exhibitions |
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2023 | Ferris Wheel Before Dawn, Tabula Rasa Gallery, Beijing, China |
2022 | I thought it was dead, it thought it’s spring, Tabula Rasa Gallery, London, UK |
2021 | Night into Nights, CocA Award 2020, Art Institute Melly Rotterdam, NL |
2018 | There Is No Size, Studio Continuo, Amsterdam, NL |
group exhibitions |
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2023 | Soul Mapping, Galerie Zeno X, Antwerp, Belgium Unveiled, No.9 Cork Street, Tabula Rasa Gallery, London, UK Paper Trails, Mendes Wood Gallery, Brussels, Belgium Art Rotterdam, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Rotterdam, NL Through Frozen Soil, Desert and Glacier, the 5th Global Overseas Chinese Artists Exhibition, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China |
2022 | NADA Miami 2022, Tabula Rasa Gallery, Miami, USA Summershow, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL Drawing Now Paris, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Paris, France |
2021 | Equipe 2, 30 year anniversary Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL Art On Paper, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Brussels, Belgium |
2020 | ((R))) Project Rozenstraat, Amsterdam, NL Royal Award for Modern Painting (winner), Palace at the Dam, Amsterdam, NL Drawing Now, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL A Quest for Lasting Values, Galerie Tobias Naehring, Leipzig, Germany Luna Pink Swirl, Project Room Flowershop, Offenbach am Main, Germany |
2019 | Royal Award for Modern Painting, Palace at the Dam, Amsterdam, NL From CoBrA to Cutting Oil, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, NL Rijksakademie Open Studio’s, Amsterdam, NL |
2018 | Club Solo lecture, Breda, NL Rijksakademie Open Studio’s, Amsterdam, NL |
2017 | Konsistenz und Existenz, Offenbach am Main, Germany My years on friendly street, London, UK |
2016 | Gout#10 painting In-/Extended, Offenbach am Main, Germany |
2015 | All bets are off, Zollamt, Offenbach am Main, Germany |
2014 | Die neue Hässlichkeit, Palast für aktuelle Kunst, Glückstadt, Germany |
2013 | Freie Sicht, Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, Germany Cafe Royal Books 2013 project, Lancashire, UK |
2011 | COOP 5, Ehemalige Diamantenbörse, Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
2010 | New Collection, Stedelijk Museum Wuyts-Van Campen & Baron Caroly, Lier, Belgium Open Studios, Atelierhaus des Bonner Kunstvereins, Bonn, Germany |
2007 | Lv Xiao 100, Star gallery, Beijing, China |
awards, grants |
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2021 | Wallpaintings in stairwell Schunck Heerlen, NL Public award Koninklijke Prijs voor Vrije Schilderkunst |
2020 | Royal Award for Modern Painting 2020, winner The Holistic Eye, opdracht Digital Earth for the Vertical Atlas publication Opdracht Stichting Collectors of Contemporary Art |
2019 | nomination Koninklijke Prijs voor Vrije Schilderkunst, NL DAAD yearstipendium (Kunst, Design, Film), Germany |
2018 – 2019 | Grants Henk and Victoria de Heus |
2017 | DAAD Studienabschluss scholarship, Germany |
2016 | Erasmus scholarship (semester at KASK Gent) |
2013 | stipendium Johannes-Mosbach-Stiftung, Germany |
2013 | DAAD Stipet 3 Rotary Club Offenbach am Main, Germany |
work in collections |
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NOG Collection, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Plancius Art Collection, Pereira Collection, Schunck Collection, Ekard Collection, Teylers Museum Haarlem |