Raised in an artistic environment, Hong Zhang earned her B.F.A. from the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. In 1996, she moved to the United States, where she received her M.A. from California State University, Sacramento in 2002, followed by an M.F.A. from the University of California, Davis in 2004. She currently resides in Lawrence, Kansas, and has been represented by Haw Contemporary in the region since 2015.

For more than two decades, Zhang’s studio practice has evolved from personal explorations of identity to encompass broader themes of gender, cross-cultural experience, and, more recently, social justice issues such as equity, diversity, and unity. Her work merges traditional techniques with contemporary concepts, drawing deeply from her lived experiences in both China and the United States. Known for their monumental scale and intricate detail, her works blend the aesthetics of Chinese ink painting with the experimental approaches she encountered in the U.S. A hallmark of her practice, developed during graduate school, is a series of large black-and-white charcoal drawings featuring long black hair—a powerful metaphor through which she explores identity as a woman, mother, and Chinese American.

Zhang has exhibited her work nationally and internationally at institutions including the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Asia Society Texas Center, Japanese American National Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Norway, the 9th Shanghai Biennial, and Beijing Ink Studio. Her recent exhibitions include shows at the Royal Palace of Milan and the Middlebury College Museum of Art.

She is a recipient of prestigious awards such as the Dedalus Foundation MFA Fellowship and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. Zhang has also participated in notable artist residency programs, including the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

Her work is held in numerous public and private collections, including the Sylvain Levy/DSL Collection in Paris, the White Rabbit Collection of Contemporary Chinese Art in Sydney, the Ministry of Culture of China in Beijing, the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas, and the Middlebury College Museum of Art.

 

Website

2022 Encounters Haw Contemporary, Kansas City, MO (details)

2022 Extensions. Kansas Focus Gallery, Nerman Museum of Art, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS

2020 Hair Story in Charcoal and Ink, Middlebury College Museum of Art, VT

2019 Untitled Art Fair San Francisco, Pier 35, solo artist represented by SF Chinese Culture Center, San Francisco, CA

2018 Tornado Warning, Haw Contemporary, Kansas City, MO (details)

2015 The Innocence of Incense, SG Gallery, Venice, Italy

2015 Making Waves, Haw Contemporary, Kansas City, MO (details)

2014 Currents: Flow, Fall, Calm, Curl, Galerie Steph, Singapore

2012 Haywire, Lawrence Arts Center, KS

2008 Hong Chun Zhang, Byron Cohen Gallery, Kansas City, MO

2005 Hair Power, Kansas Union Gallery, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

2002 Twin Spirits, Witt Gallery, California State University, Sacramento, CA

2020  Out of the Blue: A Calligraphy Journey Through Alcantara, Milan Royal Palace, Italy

2019  Art Miami, NanHai Art, Miami, FL

          Hong Chun Zhang and Stella Zhang, NanHai Art, Millbrae, CA

         Journey to the West: The Art of Three Chinese Sisters, Fayman Gallery, Lawrence, KS

2017 Summer 2017, Haw Contemporary, Kansas City, MO (details)

2017 2016 State of the Art: Drawing Invitational, Giertz Gallery, Parkland College, Champaign, IL

2016 Origo Collection on Contemporary Ink Art, Sotheby’s Hong Kong

2016 Art on Paper, Klein Sun Gallery, New York, NY

2016 Human Hair in Fashion and Art, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands 

2014 Ink and the Body, Ink Studio, Beijing, China

2013 Asian American Portraits of Encounter (traveling exhibition), Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, CA

2013 Three Sisters Bound to the Elements, The Library Gallery, California State University, Sacramento, CA

2013 Moment for Ink (traveling show), San Francisco State University Gallery and SF Chinese Culture Center, CA

2012 Asian American Portraits of Encounter (traveling exhibition), Asia Society, Houston, TX

2012 The 9th Shanghai Biennale: On the Way Home, Pudong International Airport Museum, Shanghai, China ( catalogue)

2012 Out of Line, Richard L Nelson Gallery, UC Davis, CA (catalogue)

2012 Double Take, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia (brochure)

2012 Prism: Drawing from 1990-2012, Contemporary Museum of Art Norway, Oslo

2011 Asian American Portraits of Encounter, The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC (brochure)

2010 The Tao of Now, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia

2010 Ling, Bo and Hong Zhang: 3 sisters, 3 artists, 3 diverse works on paper, Whitespace, Atlanta, GA (catalogue)

2010 Intense Concentration, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX (brochure)

2008 Locks in Translation, A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn, NY(brochure)

2007 Infinite Line: Contemporary Drawing in Time and Space, BRIC Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2006 Reboot: The Third Chengdu Biennial, Chengdu Museum of Contemporary Art, Sichuan, China (catalogue)

2005 Aspects of Humanity, Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, CA

2005 Biennial, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME (catalogue)

2004 Master of Fine Arts Thesis Show, Nelson Gallery, U.C. Davis, CA

2004 Three Sisters, B. Sakata Garo Fine Arts, Sacramento, CA

2003 The Spirit of Contemporary Asian Art, Sacramento State University Gallery, CA

2003 Political Woman, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL

2003 Cream, Arts Benicia Gallery, Benicia, CA

2002 Asian American Gender and Identities, Reynolds Gallery, University of Pacific, CA

2001 Introduction, B. Sakata Garo Fine Arts, Sacramento, CA

1996 Twin Sisters, Contemporary Art Gallery, Beijing, China

1995 Chinese Contemporary Art, China National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing, China (catalogue)

2020 Lawrence Journal-World, Oct 5th Issue, Lawrence, KS

2019 Elephant Magazine, July 2019 Issue, London, UK

2018 Elephant Magazine, 2018 Summer Issue, London, UK

2017 BG Magazine, Hong Chun Zhang Nuevos Enredos, Page# 54-57, Cuenca, Ecuador

2016 State of the Art: Drawing Invitational, exhibition catalog, Parkland College, Champaign, IL

2016 Lawrence Magazine,Feb/March, Page#28-32, Lawrence, KS

2015 INDA9, Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center, Cincinnati, OH

2015 Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts second edition, Page#205, Thames & Hudson NY

2014 Asian Art News, Zhang Chun Hong at Galleie Steph, March/April

2013 The Moment for Ink exhibition catalogue

2013 The 9th Shanghai Biennale Special Exhibition on the Way Home exhibition catalogue

2013 Sacramento Bee, Three Sisters Bound to the Elements exhibition review, Walk

2013 The Line: The Art of Drawing book, Laurence King Publishing Ltd, London, UK

2012 Haywire solo exhibition catalogue, Lawrence Arts Center, KS

2012 Sylvain Levy/DSL Collection catalogue, Paris, France

2012 Asian Art News, A Gracious Respect, January/February 

2012 Ink: The Art of China book, Michael Goedhuis Publishing, London, UK

2011 Washington Post, The Asian American experience at the National Portrait Gallery

2010 Big Bang White Rabbit Collection on Chinese Contemporary Art catalogue, Sydney, Australia

2010 The Kansas City Collection catalogue

2010 Three Sisters Works on Paper exhibition catalogue, White Space, Atlanta, GA

2009 Chinese Ink Paintings Now catalogue

2008 Review, Disparate Juxtapositions, June The Pitch, At Byron Cohen, two Asian Artists Work on Hair and Beauty, April

2007 Reboot: The Third Chengdu Biennial exhibition catalogue

2006 New American Paintings catalogue # 66, Western Competition

2005 Portland Museum of Art Biennial exhibition catalogue

2004 Skowhegan Awards Journal

2004 The Sacramento Bee, Sisters in Creation, January

2002 The Davis Enterprise, Out of the Birdcage, August 

2001 The Sacramento Bee, Newcomers Shine in Summer Show, July

2001 Sacramento News & Review, Mao Exhibitor, July

 

2006  Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York

2004 Dedalus Foundation Master of Fine Arts Fellowship, New York