Overview
Sebastian Maass
Photo © Sebastian Maass

"Emptiness also plays a big role in my paintings. Often there is an empty space in the middle. For Chinese landscape painting, distance and emptiness are important. Water and air are not traditionally painted here, the viewer has to think them. That creates vastness."

For Xianwei Zhu, his creative career was clear from an early age. While most children change their minds many times as they grow up, he already knew at the age of twelve that he would not want to trade his paintbrush and canvas for a conventional job. "I've always loved to paint and draw. And at some point my mother saw that and said, well, then we'll look for a teacher for you. - That's when I got lucky. Our neighbour was a drawing teacher."

After completing his school education, Xianwei first studied art education at Shandong University and painting at the Hangzhou Art Academy in China. He then worked as a teacher for three years. He quickly got bored with the job, admits the creative fine spirit. He wanted to get to know something new. With no previous knowledge of the language, the curious young man moved to Germany, first to Saarbrücken, then to Stuttgart for postgraduate studies in free painting at the State Academy of Fine Arts.

Works
Biography
Photo © Sebastian Maass
Photo © Sebastian Maass

Xianwei Zhu lives and works in Dusseldorf, Stuttgart and Krefeld

born in 1971 in Qingdao (in German: Tsingtau), a coastal metropolis in Shandong Province in the east of the People's Republic of China - world-famous for its Tsingtao beer, which has its origins in German colonial times
from 1989 to 1993 studied art education at the Shandong University of Applied Sciences
from 1993 to 1996 studied painting at the Hangzhou Art Academy
from 1996 to 2000 lecturer at Qingdao University
from 2001 studied free painting at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart with Cordula Güdemann
2008 Diploma
2009 Lectureship at the Merz Academy Stuttgart
from 2010 to 2012 visiting professor at the Beijing Film Academy
from 2016 to 2020 Visiting Professor at the Yunnan Art Academy
2020 Lectureship at the Technical University Dortmund

COLLECTIONS (SELECTION)

  • State Gallery Stuttgart
  • Regional Council Stuttgart
  • Collection State of Baden-Württemberg
  • Art Museum Singen
  • Collection City of Singen
  • Collection City of Ahaus
  • District Savings Bank Esslingen-Nürtingen
  • Collection Wemhöner
  • Museum Angerlehner
  • Private Collections
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