Shaobo Zhang
b. 1989
Shaobo Zhang, born in 1989 in Tongwei County, Gansu Province, has loved drawing since childhood. In 2009, he was admitted to the Animation Department of the School of Fine Arts at Sichuan Normal University, where he was fortunate to be taught by Professor Zhou Nanping. After graduating in 2013, he continued to create art in the Blue Top Art District. From 2014 to 2023, he worked as a volunteer art teacher at Shangong Jiayuan in Wuhou District, Chengdu. In 2023, he became a contracted artist with the China Cultural Relics Protection Foundation. He currently lives and works in Shanghai Art Ark and the Chengdu Blue Top Factory Art District. His works are collected by institutions and private collectors, including the Chengdu Wenxuan Art Museum, Daguan Art Museum, the China Cultural Relics Protection Foundation, Xinfeixiang Group, and Sichuan Chuanxi Group Co., Ltd.
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"Drawing inspiration from the ancient classic The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Zhang Shaobo blends mythology with modern artistic language, reconstructing the classic text using mixed media and acrylic techniques. He transforms the textual descriptions into visual images, concretely presenting mythical beasts such as the Red Carp and Bingfeng. Employing a deconstruction and reconstruction approach, referencing the textures of real organisms and incorporating the concept of the "circle" in Tai Chi, he imbues these ancient mythical creatures with a realistic quality.
Building upon this realistic foundation, he extracts the core of the mythology, transforming it into symbolic representations to enrich the cultural layers of his work. Simultaneously, he places these ancient mythical beasts within contemporary life scenarios, seeking resonance between ancient and modern beings, using mythology to reflect the existential predicament of modern people, thus completing a dialogue between ancient and modern art.
Zhang Shaobo interprets the The Classic of Mountains and Seas through a creative path that blends tradition and modernity, transforms the figurative into the abstract, deconstructs and reconstructs, and connects mythology with reality, constructing a unique artistic style."
——A Review of Zhang Shaobo's Illustrated Classic of Mountains and Seas
Chang Qing
(Currently the Director of Zhejiang Provincial Oil Painting Academy, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the China Academy of Art)
Main Exhibition Experience
2025 Ten Years of Silence Have Been Golden Chengdu Daguan Art Museum (Chengdu)
Eye of the Art Museum: Season 6 - Nominated Works Exhibition of the Chengdu-Chongqing Twin-City Economic Circle Art Museum Alliance Chongqing Contemporary Art Museum (Chongqing)
"Searching Among a Thousand Miles" - Opening Exhibition of Hongpaili Art Center Hongpaili Art Center (Chengdu)
2024 Daguan Art Museum "Soaring to the Eight Extremes" Zhang Shaobo's "Classic of Mountains and Seas" Imagery Creation Exhibition (Solo Exhibition) (Chengdu)
2023 Tianfu Youth Art Exhibition (Chengdu)
"The Gate of Eternity: Crossing the Fields of Time and Space" -
Shanghai Academy of Arts Ark Opening Exhibition - Ark Art Space (Shanghai)
Strange Beasts Record - Seeking Realm in Mountains and Seas Nanchizi Art Museum (Beijing)
2022 Mountains and Seas (Solo Exhibition) (Guiyang)
Fifth Installment Payment (Chengdu)
Yellow Box Art Museum (Qingdao)
Paths and Paths - Contemporary Art Invitational Exhibition of Different Sources and Layers (Chengdu)
2021 Walking and Walking Again: Chengdu Third Avenue Art Museum Opens (Chengdu)
Chengdu Biennale Parallel Exhibition: Local Code (Chengdu)
2021 Perspective - Street: Contemporary Youth Art Invitational Exhibition (Chengdu)
2020 Urban Eye: Contemporary Youth Art Invitational Exhibition (Chengdu)
2020 Zhang Daqian Art Invitational Exhibition: The Turning Point of Ink Painting (Neijiang)
2019 Embracing China: China-Arab International Cultural Exchange Exhibition (Dubai)
2019 He Deru 2019 Spring Art Auction (Chengdu)
2019 JC Modern: Introspection - Opening Exhibition (Chengdu)
2018 Introspection: Young Artists' Joint Exhibition (Chengdu)
2018 Miaoshan Daily Life: Young Artists' Joint Exhibition (Chengdu)
2018 Installment Payment Phase 2 (Chengdu)
2018 Unicorn Art Fair (Beijing)
2017 Installment Payment: Young Artists' Joint Exhibition (Chengdu)
2017 "Mountains Cease, Rivers Flow" - Opening Exhibition of Bailao Art Museum, Bailao Art Museum (Chengdu)
2017 "Blue Roof Youth Art Village" - WM Gallery (Chengdu)
2016 Blue Roof Art Festival Online Exhibition (Chengdu)
2015 Second Art Realm Longquan Painting Exhibition - Second Prize (Chengdu)
Second Prize, Chinese Illustration Competition (Hong Kong)
Wenxuan·New Image - Contemporary 100-Person Invitational Exhibition (Chengdu)
Red Wall Art Museum Opening Exhibition (Chengdu)
Guangzhou Guardian Auction Art Exhibition (Guangzhou)
