Shanghai, China
Zhou Fan is well known for his astonishingly detailed drawings and paintings that depict fantastical nature scenes. Often working without drafts, plans or pre-set ideas, Zhou Fan’s large works take from 8 months to 3 years to finish. Dreams, memory, hallucinations, and fantasy have all been the thread and substance of Zhou Fan’s practice throughout the last decade. His previous series of artworks brought his audiences into a realm of imagination with out-of-this-world scenes and a sumptuous and unusual color palette.
In his 2015 solo exhibition "Mute", roadways, strong, artificial colors and illusory landscapes wavered between reality and fantasy, the foremost visual features in these previous works which took a look at life's journey from a neutral almost nihilistic perspective. Meditating on the relationship between that which is manmade and things of natural world, between the city and the wild, these works were the artist's attempt at making sense of the intricate eco system we inhabit. Captured in this group of work, the artist takes his audiences on an illusory and adventurous “road trip” where we know no beginning or ending.
Over the past two years, Zhou Fan has shifted his interest onto different subjects of investigation, moving from the external landscape to an internal geography, both physical and psychological. Looking back at his artistic practice for over a decade, Zhou Fan's visual language has also become more abstract, with less figurative construction and subject, yet still embracing the vibrant palette and exquisite detail for which his work is fast becoming widely known and well admired as his career moves toward mid-career.
1983 in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province
2006
BFA, Art College, Shanxi University, China
2024
An Irresistible Spectacle, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2023
Paradise, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2019
Pollen, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2017
Phobia, OCAT, Xi'an
Melt, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2015
Zhou Fan: Mute, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2013
Zhou Fan Solo Exhibition, Art Beijing, Beijing
2012
Zhou Fan Solo Exhibition, NUOART, Beijing
2010
Dream Catcher in the Rye - Zhou Fan Solo Exhibition, Art Scene Warehouse, Shanghai
2008
Zhou Fan Solo Exhibition, Art Scene China, Shanghai
2004
ITCHY Solo Exhibition, Shanxi University, Taiyuan
2024
In The Flow, Mirror Space, Shaoxing
Shanghai Calling, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China
2023
Dissolution of Form, HDL Museum, Chengdu
Aurora, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2022
First Light, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2021
Electric Picnic, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2020
Worlds on Paper, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
A Spirit was Seen from the Window - The Art Collection Case of Chinese Young Artists Since 1999, Hiart Space, Shanghai
2019
Out of Ink: Interpretations from Chinese Contemporary Art, Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey
Four Squared Plus One, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
Summer Wave, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2018
Paint the Web Pink, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2017
New Space Soft Opening Exhibition, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
10 Years of Love, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2016
Fireflowers, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
Ulysses' Gaze - The Return of Painterliness and Soulful Contemplation, Ginkgo Art Center, Beijing
2015
Bites Back, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2014
Dreaming in Color, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
2009
Toronto International Art Fair, Toronto, Canada
Three - Two - One Art Exhibition, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai
Highlights of the Chinese Art Prize 2005 - 2008, Art Scene Warehouse, Shanghai
The White Exhibition 2 - Group Exhibition of Emerging Chinese Contemporary Artists, Art Scene Warehouse, Shanghai
Get Real!, Art Scene Warehouse, Shanghai
Group Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art, Dubai
2008
Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany
The White Exhibition - Contemporary Emerging Chinese Art Exhibition, Art Scene Warehouse, Shanghai
2007
Top 20 Artists’ Exhibition, Chinese Art Prize 2007, Honorable Mention Award, Art Scene Warehouse, Shanghai
Art Beijing, Beijing
1981 Design and Art, Zendai MOMA, Shanghai
2006
Here Comes the Christmas, Zendai MOMA, Shanghai
2024
Amur JAHA Ordos, Ordos, China
2023
Remy Martin XO Mid-Autumn limited edition, China
2021
Festival, A8 Design Center, Chengdu, China
2019
Discover Your Color, Lane Crawford, Beijing / Shanghai / Chengdu / Hong Kong
Relic, Shanghai Dramatic Art Centre, Shanghai
2017
"Made in CNY", Apple Inc.
2009
Météo Music Festival, Mulhouse, France