Chinese, b. 1965; lives and works in Shanghai, China
Zhang Huan studied oil painting at Henan University and moved to Beijing in 1991 for graduate study at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 1993 he moved to Beijing’s East Village and quickly began a series of powerful, sometimes harrowing performances that garnered him widespread attention. After relocating to New York in 1998, Zhang launched an international performance career, eventually carrying out more than forty individually conceived and executed performances before he decided to practice other means of artistic expression. In 2006 he moved to Shanghai and established a large studio that specializes in the production of monumental sculptures, paintings, and carved wood reliefs.
