Guan Zhi 官志(born in 1970 China) initially followed the traditional path of gifted students by attending the elite school of Renmin University and later completing his MBA at Jinan University.
With calligraphy and ink painting as part of his childhood, he ended up becoming a professional artist in China. He later moved to the US under the EB1 visa granted to those with extraordinary ability. This is unprecedented since most foreign artists especially from emerging markets come into the US first as tourists but he was allowed in for his talent.
He has become popular in the West Coast with a solo exhibition in 2016 at UC Merced Art Gallery in California. He seeks to transform the classic aesthetic and qualities of Chinese ink painting into works that resonate with Chinese and Western society today.
Guan Zhi’s dramatic and majestic works have great momentum inspired by “Shanshui” whose epoch was during the Song and Yuan dynasties. During the Ming and Qing, this technique declined in popularity due to “lacking new basic technique and pictorial language.”
Today’s “Shanshui” renaissance comes with a strong foundation of classical literature with an updated interpretation of pictorial art from scholar’s rocks to scenery. New techniques and styles are applied such as texturing of mountains and rocks, contemporary painting treatments for water, clouds, trees, follies, etc. The Juanita Collection’s large horizontal landscape is a dramatic example that embodies all these qualities and techniques.
Guan Zhi is not yet in museums or biennales but he is in many private collections including those of art dealers. He has been vetted for very prestigious art fairs such as TEFAF Maastricht, The Winter Show in New York City, Masterpiece and Asian Art in London and various fairs in Miami and Los Angeles.
