People seen from a godlike height, but never as a unified mass, Zhou Jinhua’s (周金华) art fuses the seemingly incompatible worldviews of aerial photography and traditional Chinese painting. Instead, the people go their separate ways, coalescing in twos and threes to enact multiple small dramas on the same stage.
But this bird’s-eye perspective is not a position of power for the artist, but distance to understand what’s going on in the world. “Different artists have their own unique ways to express their message. Some use images, some use concepts, others use the art form of language. To me they are all useful ways,” says Zhou Jinhua. He has tried to create a sense of in-between within reality and fiction, by separating the ordinary, trivial or momentary coincidences from the original sense, which brings a dramatic and surreal impact.
Born in 1978 in Sichuan province, Zhou obtained a BFA from the Sichuan Institute of Fine Arts in Chongqing. Now living in Beijing, he’s one of a new group of contemporary artists in China that are aged between 30 to 40, and who are creating fresh and original takes on surreal and abstract art.
Zhou Jinhua’s artwork focuses on space and movement. He wants the viewers to break away from certain aspects of their visual experience and instead show the difference brought by the unfamiliar. “The background of my creations mainly comes from the present life. The present experiences and feelings are most attractive to me,” he explains. “My inspiration comes from everything around me. The old saying goes that a flower is a world. Every object tells a story. As long as I feel the world with the fullness of my heart, these will always be my inspirations.”
Solo Exhibitions:
2013 – Zhou Jinhua, HKCEC, Hong Kong
– Dreamy Reality, Nou Gallery, Taipei
2011 – Desting, Schoeni Gallery, Hong Kong
– Zhou Jinhua, Neuffer Am Park Museum, Germany
– Real Absurdity, Taipei
2009 – The Adjustment of Controversies, Gallery Beijing Space, Beijing
– Everything Looks Good Before It Happens, Konstanz Museum, Germany
2008 – Constancy · Inconstancy, Gallery Beijing Space, Beijing
2007 – The Observer, Schoeni Gallery, Hong Kong
2005 – Us, Schoeni Gallery, Hong Kong
Group Exhibitions:
2016 – Fireflowers, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
– Another Vision, Research Exhibition on the Visual Language of Oil Painting, Times Art Museum/Beijing
2015 – Squares and Circles in May, Lucie Chang Fine Arts & Fringe, Club/Hongkong
Bright Night, Duge Courtyard/Beijing
2014 – Synaesthesia Talented Young Artists Exhibition, Soka Art Center
2013 – Excitation Variable – The new narrative spirit painting exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Beijing
2012 – World event Young Artists 2012, Nottingham, UK
– Latitude/Attitude: Twenty years of Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong
2011 – Nostalgiaandmet Touring Exhibition, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing
– Ramble, F2 Gallery, Beijing
2010 – China Welcomes you, Oldenburger Stadtmuseum, Germany
– Quote out the Context, T Art Center, Beijing
2009 – Lovely Blossoms and Full Moon, Yuz Museum Jakarta/Indonesia
2008 – Chinese Fantasies: Found Museum Opening Exhibition, Found Museum, Beijing
– Anything is Possible, Chinese artists exhibition, Luxembourg
2007 – Your View My Story, Chinese Young Artists exhibition, Berlin, Germany
Museum
– Start from Southwest, Southwest Contemporary Art Exhibition 1985-2007, Guangdong Art
– Sovereign Asian Art Prize, Hong Kong
– Bitter Sweet Generation, Chinese Young Artists exhibition, Museum of Mannheim, Germany
– Look up, Look down, Beijing
2006 – Sixth exhibition of new China oil paintings, Denmark Culture Center, Beijing
– Shanghai Art Expo Young Artists Exhibition, Shanghai
– Art Beijing, Expo, Beijing
2003 – First annual National Academy Excellence oil painting exhibition, He Xiangning Art Museum
