Zhang Jie
Biographical Information

Zhang Jie was born in 1980 in Chonqing, in South-Western China.

In 1999, Zhang Jie was accepted at one of China's top three art academies, the Sichuan Academy of Fine Art. With so many students applying to the Sichuan Academy annually and only a very limited number of seats available, the rate of acceptance of applicants at the academy is very low; in fact, the chances of being accepted are less than applicants to Harvard University. Zhang Jie completed her undergraduate degree in four years.

In 2003, Zhang Jie was one of the elite students from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts to be accepted to participate in the academy's rigorous Master's Degree program. Only a select few students every year are awarded a place to study in the top academy's ranks, and they are tutored by some of China's most well-etablished contemporary artists-professors.

In 2005, Zhang Jie was selected as one of the top 20 emerging Chinese artists at the Chinese Art Prize (CAP), previously the Dragonair Emerging Chinese Artist Awards (DECAA). Important international art critics, including Gerard Goodrow (Director of the globally famos Art Cologne), Jeff Kelley (Curator of the Asian Art Museum in California), Isabelle de Wavrin (Co-founder and Co-editor-in-Chief of Beaux Arts Magazine, France's most famous art publication), Dr Marion Ackermann (Director of the Art Museum of Stuttgart, Germany), and Li Lei (Executive Director of the Shanghai Art Museum), amoung others. The Chinese Art Prize launched Zhang Jie's career, and allowed her to gain much more exposure.

In 2006, Zhang Jie's first solo exhibition at Art Scene China in Shanghai was met with tremendous success. Her work has since been exhibited at shows in Shanghai and Beijing as well as in Europe and the USA (Miami, New York and Washington, D.C.).

Zhang Jie's paintings are now well-recognised within China and internationally. She is certainly one of China's top young artist talents. Her paintings are ever-evolving as the artist challenges herself and matures.