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Wanxin Zhang
2006 1st Place recipient

Biography

In 1992, after Wanxin Zhang established his art career as a sculptor in China, he relocated to San Francisco with his family. There, he received his Masters in Fine Arts from the Academy of Art University in 1996. Now, as a studio sculptor and educator, Zhang is a first-place recipient of the Virginia A. Groot Foundation Grant in 2006, and the Joan Mitchell Grant in 2004. His sculptures have been shown in many galleries and museums around the nation, including solo museum shows at the University of Wyoming Art Museum, the Fresno Art Museum in California, and the Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and Art in Michigan. His works have been selected to be included in Confrontational Ceramics by Judith Schwartz and in a major editorial by the magazine American Ceramics. Zhang’s collectors are located both nationally and internationally.

Education

1992-1996 Academy of Art University , MFA. Sculpture, San Francisco, California
1980-1985 Luxun Academy of Fine Art, BA. Sculpture, ShengYang City, LiaoNing Province, China
1978-1980 Art School of Jilin, Diploma of Fine Art, ChangChun City, Jilin Province, China

Teaching

1996-present Instructor, Academy of Art University San Francisco, California
1985-1992 Assistant Professor, Jilin Art College, ChangChun City, China

Solo Exhibitions

2010 Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona,  A Ten Year Survey: 1999-2009 
Traveling to:
Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho
The Art Center, St. Petersburg, Florida
Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, Washington (2011)
Udinotti Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona  Wanxin’s New Works
Mindy Solomon Gallery, St. Petersburg, Florida  Wanxin Zhang 2010 
2009
University of San Francisco, Thacher Gallery,  Wanxin Zhang New Sculptures  (August to October)
University of San Francisco, Kalmanovitz Hall – Sculpture Terrace (July to January 2010)
University of San Francisco, Kalmanovitz Hall – Atrium (July to January 2010)
Sonoma State University, University Art Gallery, Rohnert Park, California  Contemporary Warriors
Udinotti Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona  Wanxin Zhang: Ceramic Sculptures 
2008
Art Beatus Gallery, Hong Kong, China  Pit #5: My Nation  (Catalog)
Bedford Gallery, Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, California Pit #5, Contemporary Warriors 
The Alden B.Dow Museum of Science & Art, Midland Art Center, Midland, Michigan Pit #5, Michigan 
2007
Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, California  California Artist Too 
2006
Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, Florida  Wanxin Zhang’s New Works 
University of Wyoming Art Museum Laramie, Wyoming  Pit #5 Laramie, 2006 (Catalog)
2004
Bernice Steinbaum Gallery Miami, Florida  Figures of the Future‘s Past - Pit #5 
2002
Triangle Gallery San Francisco, CA  Ceramic Sculpture  (Catalog)
2001
Vorpal Gallery San Francisco, CA  Treasures of China-A-Dialogue

Selected Group Shows

2009 
Glimpses: Contemporary Ceramics  Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, Washington
Nine Lives: Dog Day of the Summer  Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, Florida
2008 
Wyoming Invitational  University of Wyoming, Laramie, WyomingSpirit and Form  Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California
A Human Impulse: Figuration from the Diane and Sandy Besser Collection  Arizona State University Art
Museum, Tempe, Arizona (Catalog)
Artists to Watch - Asia  Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Taiwan Ceramics Biennale  Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taipei, Taiwan (Catalog)
2007 
Innovation & Change: Arizona State University Ceramic Collection  Fort Wayne Museum of Art,

Fort Wayne, Indiana (Nationwide traveling show) (Book)
Clay and Brush: The Ceramic Art of China  Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
Coral Gables, Florida (Catalog)
What is Next?  Florida Craftsman Gallery, St. Petersburg, Florida
The 22nd UBE Biennale International Sculpture Competition Yamaguchi, Japan (Catalog)
2006
Landscape Sculpture Design for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games  Beijing, China (Brochure)
2005
Riverbend Sculpture Biennial
Owensboro Museum of Fine Arts Owensboro, Kentucky
The Other Mainstream  Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona (Catalog)
Palm Beach 3  Represented by Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, Florida
The 7th San Francisco International Art Expo Byron Cohen Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri
2004 
It’s for the Birds  Traveling Exhibition, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery Miami, Florida (Catalog)
Art Basel Miami Beach  International Art Fair, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, Florida
2003 
Across the Divide  Gatov and Werby Art Gallery Cal State Long Beach, California (Catalog)
Art Basel Miami Beach  International Art Fair, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, Florida
Fourth Toronto International Art Fair  Art Beatus Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
14th Annual California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art  Davis, CA
International Art Expo, Chicago  Art Beatus Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
Gallery Artists  John Elder Gallery, New York, New York
2001 
Selected Artists  Triangle Gallery San Francisco, CA
2000 
All California Exhibition  San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
Sculpture 2000 Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C

Selected Award and Grants

2006
Virginia A. Groot Foundation Sculptors Grant – 1st Place Evanston, Illinois
NEA / Warhol Foundation, Artist-in-Residence Award, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
2004
The Joan Mitchell Foundation Inc. Painters and Sculptors Grant New York, NY
2000
Distinctive Merit Award, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California

Selected Reviews and Articles

Ian Findlay, "Zhang Wanxin at Art Beatus," World Sculpture News, Vol.14, No.3, p.69, Hong Kong 2008

Tonya Turner Carroll  Top Talent: 150+ emerging, established, and most influential artists  Santa Fean Collector’s Tips, Santa Fe, California, June/July 2008

Britta Erickson  Tyranny Meets Irreverence in Pit #5 , Art Beatus Gallery, Hong Kong, 2008

Robert Taylor  Building a Battalion Out of Clay , Contra Costa Times, California, Jan. 12th, 2008

Emily Sano  Tradition and Transformation: Wanxin Zhang Sculptures  ClayArt International Yearbook, Athens,

Greece, 2007/2008

Arthur Coleman Danto  Visionary Ceramics  American Ceramics 152, New York, 2007

Mireya Hernandez  Public Art Gives New Life to Fallen Workers  Prime Time, New Mexico, 2007

Susan Moldenhauer  Wanxin Zhang’s Warriors  Catalogue Essay, Wyoming Art Museum, 2006

Angela Brooks  Recreating History  7220 Newspaper, Laramie, Wyoming, page 9, Jan. 26th, 2006

Marilyn A. Zeitlin  Art and Justice  Catalogue Essay, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 2005

Stephanie Cash Art World Awards, Art in America, March Issue, 2005

Anne Albritton Sculpture Magazine, July/August Issue, page 69, 2005

Joel Weinstein  Coming Home to Roost  Bernice Steinbaum Gallery Catalogue Essay, 2004

Anne Tschida The Herald, Sunday, Miami, Florida, Nov. 24, 2004

Mark Ormond  Figures of the Future’s Past  Bernice Steinbaum Gallery Announcement Essay, 2004

David Alexander  Terracotta Sculpture – A Passion for Creative Art Teacher, Richmond Review San Francisco,

California, July Issue, 2002

Frank Cebulski  Wanxin Zhang: Transcultural Figure and Tradition  Catalogue Essay, Triangle Gallery, San

Francisco, California, 2002

Christopher Newhard  The Qin Warriors on His Mind  Catalogue Essay, Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2002

Kenneth Baker  Wanxin Zhang at Triangle  San Francisco Chronicle, July 27th, D10, 2002

Books and Exhibition Catalogues

500 Ceramic Sculptures  Lark Ceramics Book, Sterling Publishing Co. Inc., New York / London, 2009
Taiwan Ceramics Biennale  Exhibition Book, Taipei, Taiwan, 2008
Clay in Art International Yearbook  Clay Art International, Athens, Greece, 2007/2008
A Human Impulse  Figuration from the Diane and Sandy Besser Collection, Arizona State University, 2008
Exhibition Advertisement  Art in America Magazine, August 2008 Issue
Exhibition Advertisement  Asian Art News, Singapore, Volume 18, Number 4 p.38, July/August Issue, 2008
Innovation & Change  Peter Held, Arizona State University Art Museum, 2007Clay and Brush: The Ceramic Art of China  Brian Dursum, Loews Art Museum, University of Miami, 2007
Modern Chinese Artists: A Biographical Dictionary  Michael Sullivan, University of California Press, 2006
Landscape Sculpture Design for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games  Exhibition brochure, Beijing, CN 2006
Virginia A. Groot Award Announcement, Sculpture Magazine, September 2006 Issue
Virginia A. Groot Award Announcement, Art in American Magazine, October 2006 Issue
Virginia A. Groot Award Announcement, American Craft Magazine, October/November 2006 Issue
Virginia A. Groot Award Announcement, American Ceramics Magazine, Fall 2006 Issue
Confrontational Clay  by Judith Schwartz. Book. Published by A&C Black Publishers, London
Wanxin Zhang Pit #5 Wyoming 2006, University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY 2006
Riverbend Sculpture Biennial  Catalog, Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, Owensboro, Kentucky, 2005
The Other Mainstream, Weithorn Collection, Arizona State University Art Museum Tempe, AZ, 2005
Bird, A group invitational traveling exhibition, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, FL, 2004
Across the Divide  California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA 2003
50th Anniversary of Sculpture Department  LuXun Institute of Fine Art, China Light Industrial Publishing House, Beijing, China, 2002
Wanxin Zhang Sculpture  Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2002
2000 All California Exhibition Brochure, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA 2000

Selected Public Collections

Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California
Annie Wong Art Foundation, Hong Kong, China
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
City of Albuquerque, Albuquerque, New Mexico
City of Dalian, LiaoNing Province, China
Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, California Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida
New Mexico Art Division, Santa Fe, New Mexico
National Fine Art Gallery, Beijing, China
UBE Tokiwa Museum, Yamaguchi, Japan
University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, Wyoming
Virginia A. Groot Foundation, Evanston, Illinois