BORN
1975 Born in Shangdong, China
Pan Jian
Pan Jian (b. 1975, Shandong, China) is an acclaimed artist whose work centers on the poetic interplay of light and shadow. A graduate of the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, where he continues to teach, Pan has developed a distinctive visual language over the past two decades that blurs the boundaries between the figurative and the abstract. His practice is deeply rooted in both classical influence and contemporary experimentation. Increasingly working from memory and imagination rather than photographic reference, he creates immersive scenes where light becomes emotion, memory, and presence. Pan explores the aesthetic and symbolic dimensions of light as a subject in itself—transforming landscapes into introspective spaces.
His work has been widely exhibited across Asia and Europe and is held in major international collections including M+ Museum (Hong Kong), Uli Sigg Collection (Switzerland), DSL Collection (France), and Yuz Museum (Indonesia).
Education
2001
MFA, Oil Painting Department of Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, China
Solo Exhibitions
2024
All the Way Back to the End of the Light, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China
2023
Rainbow Vaporwave，East Gallery, Nanjing, China
Fire Rainbows, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2021
Evolution, Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai, China
Lightning’s Edge, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2020
Those Which Illuminate, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China
2018
Seeing the forest through the brush, Triumph Gallery, Beijing, China
2017
Light of the Troposphere, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
2015
Shadow of Light, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
2013
The Edge of the Shadow, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
2010
Strange Image – Painting Solo Show-Pan Jian, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2008
The end of the world, Beijing Space, Beijing, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
Shanghai Calling, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China
2022
Touch of Wind, Linda Gallery, Beijing, China
2021
Mindscapes, HOFA Gallery, London, UK
2020
The Curation Workshop II, OCAT Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
2019
Pan Jian & Gao Weigang: Amber, OCAT, Xi’an, China
2018
Mapping the City: A Vision of History and Xi’an, OCAT, Xi’an, China
The Green Ray-2, Triumph Gallery, Beijing, China
2017
The Green Ray, Triumph Gallery, Beijing, China
2016
Quotidian, Pearl Lam Gallery, Shanghai, China
2015
Space and Nothingness, Pearl Lam Gallery, Singapore
East meets west, Artlink Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
East meets west, Artlink Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2014
Macht Sichtbar: To unveil the invisible -Pan Jian & Fu Xiaotong Duo Exhibition, Jing Gallery, Beijing, China
Outside the Lines, RH Contemporary Art, New York, USA
2013
Art Sanya, Sanya, Hainan, China
2012
MAXIMA+, Shanghai gallery of art, Shanghai, China
Between Dream and Memory, Force, Beijing, China
Plane•Scape, Jing Yi Art Space, Beijing, China
Xinjiang Biennale, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
Close Observation & Distant Meditation Contemporary Arts Exhibition, Chengdu, China
Cynical Resistance, Hakgojae Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2011
Mid-Autumn Moon, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu, China
Fabricator, Soka Art Center Beijing, Beijing, China
Pure Views-New Painting from China, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA
2010
Shanghai Art Fair-Young Artists Promotion Exhibition, Shanghai Mart, Shanghai, China
Pure Views-New Painting from China, LBF Foundation, London, UK
“Negotiations” 2nd Today Documentation Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China Upstairs in the Youth- Young Critics Nomination Exhibition, Times Art Museum, Beijing, China
Reshaping History-China Youth New Art Invitational Exhibition, Arario Gallery, Beijing, China
2009
Observation of Reality, Joyart, Beijing, China
Li Xiaojing and Pan Jian Joint Exhibition, Yuz Museum, Jakarta, Indonesia
2008
Lovely Blossoms and Full Moon: Yuz Collection of Chinese Contemporary Art, Yuz Museum, Jakarta, Indonesia
A Tale of Two Cities, Beijing Space, Beijing, China
Distinctive Landscape, 3818 Cool Gallery, Beijing, China
Contemporary Art Document Exhibition – New Prominent Exhibition, Wall Art Museum, Beijing, China
2006
Unusual Landscape, Highland Gallery, Beijing, China
2004
China New Vision – Chinese Contemporary Youth Artist Group Exhibition, Shanghai International Expo Center, China
2003
The 3rd China Oil Painting Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing
2002
Dissimilation Realism – Contemporary Art Exhibition, Upriver Loft Gallery, Kunming, China
Important Collections
Uli Sigg (Switzerland)
Yuz Museum (Indonesia)
Hong Xiuling (Indonesia)
Pierre Huber (Switzerland)
DSL Collection (France)
Burger Collection (Switzerland)
M+ Museum (Hong Kong)
Private Collections Worldwide