About the Artist

Zhang Yu was born in Beijing, China. She graduated from Beijing Science Technology College with a degree in Art Design in 1994, and continued her study at the Central Academy of Fine Art for another two years to refine her master program training in oil painting. By the time she began her MFA studies at the City College of New York in 2007, her paintings matured and she established a unique style that challenges the notions of ideal beauty and self-identity.
Yu has received recognition such as the City Artist Crop grants in 2021, the Koan J. Baysa Award in 2008. During her career, Yu has numerous solo and group shows in the United States, Japan and China. She has shown in the Staten Island Museum, New York; Nasu-Kougen Museum, Japan; International Arts Festival ShangHai, China; and many galleries in New York City area including Gallery 456, Walter Wickiser Gallery, Hans Weiss (CT), Thomas Erben Gallery, Artists Space, Exit Art, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts and White Box.
Zhang Yu currently lives and works in New York.

Writings

Zhang Yu is an emerging artist who fits very well into the ongoing development of post-Mao experimental work,which is now thoroughly globalized in its themes, techniques, and critical concerns. Indeed, she is already an active member of the international Chinese art community, and is considered a peer by some of the best-known names in the field. Her work, exceptionally strong in draftsmanship and showing a fine painterly potential, manifests several signature motifs (the long-necked woman, for example) of the sort that have won wide recognition for her slightly older colleagues. I believe that Zhang Yu is likely to make a notable contribution to the current art scene—in the U.S., China and elsewhere—as she continues to hone her skills and fully explore her vision.
Richard Vine Senior Editor, Art in America magazine, and author of the book New China, New Art.