Jian Wang was born in
Dalian in 1958. A child drawn to art, Jian Wang learned the Russian Social
Realism popular in China, but spent his own time studying Rembrandt and
Michelangelo. At the tender age of twelve, the quality of his artwork earned
him admission in the Dalian Youth Palace Arts, where he studied for six years.
Urged by his parents, Jian
got his Bachelor of Science in Engineering at the Dalian Railway Institute,
where he later taught for four years. It was here that he met Marjorie
Francisco, a retired art teacher from Sacramento, who taught English at the
Institute. Impressed by his artwork, Marjorie sponsored Jian's journey to
America so he could have the freedom to develop his own artistic voice.
In 1986, Jian arrived in the
States. He took art courses at Sacramento City College from Fred Dalkey. At
University of California, Davis he learned from such modern masters as Wayne
Thiebaud, Manuel Neri, Roland Peterson and David Hallowell. Jian received his
M.A.degree in 1994, at California State University, Sacramento, under the
advisement of Oliver Jackson.
Jian’s one-person show is
from October 4 - November 3, 2002 in Sacramento, CA. At that time the
gallery will introduce a new 104 page catalog/book with 82 color
plates, titled The Painter published by Solomon Dubnick Press® in a deluxe
hardcover Collector Edition, 275 signed and numbered (ISBN # 0-9652720-6-0),
and also a softcover edition of 1500 copies with Gate Folds (ISBN #
The Painter is a look at the
method, form, process and feeling of Jian Wang’s work. With a mixture of
Jian Wang’s paintings and James Scarborough’s words, the reader is taken
on a journey through the artwork-the rapid brushstroke, the quality of light,
the maestro leading his way through the symphony of color and form.
Jian Wang’s buffet of
visual delights emerges from the concept of method itself of the painter’s
technique, of the practice of applying paint. The process of creation is as
important as the product created. Such is, at least, the essence of painting
for the artist himself. No matter the subject, be it landscape, still life or
figural, Jian Wang’s paintings express more than the essence of the scene,
but also push against the boundaries of his medium.