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Fine Art by Jamie Zhang

 

 

A Profile of the Artist

 

 

Jamie Zhang is poised to bring Chinese painting into the new millennium. 

Jamie Zhang or Zhang Hui (pronounced "Jhang") is descended from a line of artists from Anhui, home of the four treasures of the study: paper, ink, ink stone and brush.  A line of artists that was destined to be cut off by China's Cultural Revolution.  She has betrayed destiny thanks to the persistence and sacrifice of her parents who guided her early training as an artist. 


Jamie's uncle painting a picture of her when she  is about 15 years old.    He was then a professor at Beijing Central Academy of Fine Art.

Her given name, "Hui" means "painting."  Zhang Hui, or Jamie Zhang, was groomed to pursue European-style oil painting.  This is the overwhelming trend in Chinese Academia.  But while studying in Beijing she began to investigate Chan (Zen) and Tao.  It was then that she realized her passion was not Western oil painting, but Chinese water-based painting.

Jamie chooses to use traditional Chinese materials (paints, paper, silk, brushes etc.) and techniques.  Furthermore, she has an understanding of the spiritual and philosophical background of Chinese art which informs her sensibilities.  Nevertheless, one shouldn't look  for bamboo, rocks, mountains, or pine trees in her paintings.

While Jamie respects her roots, but she refuses to let herself become locked into a set of traditional tropes in  "Chinese Painting."

Her work reminds one of Klimt, Modigliani and other Europeans who fell under the influence of Asian art.  She herself hadn't thought to compare her work to theirs.   I had to remind myself that Matisse, Klimt and many other Europeans had fallen under the spell of Asian art.  It is Jamie who is simply "doing her thing" and in the process contributing to a vibrant new era in Chinese painting. 

It's well beyond the scope of this brief introduction but we can note some characteristics Jamie shares with the "Orientalized" Europeans: the flattening of perspective, the use of lines to break the flattened plane, (Oriental) decorative motifs (often taken from fabrics), Eastern color schemes and a taste for female subjects.  

While contemporary art, East and West, is dominated by self-consciously modern art, Jamie's art is a refreshingly oriented towards capturing the beauty of her human subjects, the natural world, and cultural expressions.

 
A painting of Jamie in 1990 by her father.  Oil on canvas.

Some Dates
1975 Zhang Hui was born in Anhui, China.
1991-1995 She attended Central Academy of Fine Art High School in Beijing.  She was one of 30 students selected from all of China. gpans.JPG (42970 bytes)
1995 "Girl from the South"  received the  Award of Excellence from the Central Academy and was published in a 45 year retrospective of paintings from the Central Academy of Fine Art . southgirl2.JPG (36317 bytes)
1995 She placed first in a three day Nationwide Chinese practical art exam, Beijing. drawheadphones.JPG (23029 bytes)
1995-1999 She attended Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing.  BA in Chinese Art and Letters. chspringhunt.JPG (39259 bytes)
1997 "Not in School with Sister" received the Award of Excellence from the Central Academy of Fine Art. sisterbrother.JPG (51750 bytes)
1998 She and her father were commissioned to design commemorative postcards of  scientists from Fujian Province. post-4.JPG (38126 bytes)
1998 Modern Chinese Line Drawings Vol. I (of VI):  The Collected Sketches of Zhang Hui. Fujian Art Publishing House, Fuzhou, (40 pages) 1998. bookcover.JPG (14584 bytes)
1999 "Songs of the Fisherwomen" placed third in a University-wide competition of all departments (oil, sculpture etc.). fisherwomen2.JPG (44211 bytes)
1999 She moved to Singapore and became an art teacher at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts as well as a sought-after portrait artist.
2001 Jamie moved to the United States with her husband and opened an art studio and gallery in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
2002 "Tradition and Innovation: Works from China by the Zhang Family" exhibited at Vanchiere's Uptown in Lake Charles, Louisiana May 11-13th.
2002 "East Meets West: Paintings by Jamie Zhang" at the Art Associates Gallery in association with the Arts and Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana, October 5-26th.
2002 Jamie and her husband moved to Houston, Texas.
2003 "Gongbi by Jamie Zhang" at Rice University's Frarnsworth Pavilion, 14 November - 14 December.
2004 Solo exhibitat Momu Galleries, 1612 Westheimer, Houston, TX, 16 April - 29 May.
2006 Zhang Family Exhibition in Fuzhou, China
2010-2012 Moved to Michigan where she taught art and painted for 2 years
2012-present Moved to Calgary, Canada where she is teaching art and painting. She is currently preparing for an exhibition.

The Galleries