Liu Jian…received his degree from the Art Institute of Beijing; taught at the Chinese Painting Academy and served as the director of the Shanghai Youth Artist Association.

Liu Jian’s early work was strongly calligraphic. He employed abstractions of the traditional landscape and textual themes though still within the context of traditional Chinese brush painting.

In 1987, Liu Jian visited Germany and a new world opened. From 1989 forward, he incorporated these new influences- bold strokes, drips and splashes of color- into his own paintings.

Additionally, he took away a lasting love of Joseph Beuys’ paintings, saying "each of them (the works) has the existential aura of a found object. It is as if God had created it - the artist is no longer present in the work. All great art has this quality."

Since relocating to Canada, Liu Jian has served as the director of the Ontario Chinese Art Association and as the director for the Gallery of Ontario for Chinese Art. He has shown regularly in Hong Kong with Alison Fine Art and in Toronto. He has also shown in Italy, Taiwan, England, France, Spain, Germany, China and the United States. His paintings are featured in the collections of Prince Haik Zaruan of Austria, Ms. Hope Rockefeller of New York, The National Bank of Canada in Hong Kong, the United States Embassy of Brunei, Exxon Oil, ltd., Robert Mondavi of California, Bill Kohrs of IBM, the Union Swiss Bank and the Belgian Consulate in Hong Kong among others.  

In addition to painting, Liu Jian has also begun to curate exhibitions. In 2000, he mounted an exhibition entitled “ Canadian Painting: 15 Contemporary Painters” for the Shanghai Art Museum. Then in 2004, he co-curated an exhibition of female painters for the Dou Lun Art Museum of Shanghai entitled “ Women’s Decorations- Contemporary Women Artists of China and Canada.”

Liu Jian still loves to experiment with his techniques and media because he believes that, "The problems facing painting are formal problems. When the solution of a problem takes form, a painting is born."

EXHIBITIONS:

Solo:
1994 Alison Fine Arts Ltd., Central Plaza, Hong Kong
1995 Christopher Cutts Gallery, Toronto, Canada
1995 Societa Belle Arti. Verona, Italy
1995 Gallery d'arte Piazza Erbe, Verona, Italy
1995 Festival Dei Mondo, Walsh Gallery, Chicago, USA
1995 Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
1997 "Europe in my Mind," Alison Fine Arts Ltd., Hong Kong
1997 Walsh Gallery, Chicago
1997 "From China to America: The Art of a New Generation," D. P. Fong,
Galleries, San Jose, California,
1998 "New Beginning," Christopher Cutts Gallery, Toronto, Canada
1998 "Beginnings," The Finer Side Galleries, Wash., D.C.
1999 “Home-Coming”,Alison Fine Arts, Hong Kong
2000  Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
2000  Shanghai East Normal University art gallery ( two person show)
2004  “The Return”, Ch’i: Contemporary Fine Art, NYC

Group:
1991 Drawings 1991, Lincoln Center, New York, NY, USA
1991 Japan Arts Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1992 "Explorations," Alisan Fine Arts Ltd., Hong Kong
1994 Festival Dei due Mondi, Basilica Santa Eufemia, Spoleto, Italy
1995 "Chinese New Year Show," Christopher Cutts Gallery, Toronto, Canada
1996 Travelling Show in Shanghai and Beijing, China
1996 Galleria d'arte Piazza Erbe, Verona, Italy
1996 The International Asian Art Fair, New York, USA
1996 Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai , China
1998 The First Shenzhen International Ink Painting Biennial, Shenzhen, China
2000 Miami Art Fair, Miami, Florida
2000 Shenzhen Centre Art Museum, International Chinese Ink Painting
2001 Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2002 Salon 2002, Walsh Gallery, Chicago, Il
2002 Shenzhen Centre Art Museum, International Chinese Ink Painting
2004 Shenzhen Centre Art Museum , International Chinese Ink Painting
2005 Art LA, Santa Monica, CA with Ch’i
2005 AAF Contemporary Fair, NYC with Ch’i
2006 Shanghai Abstract Art Biennale, Shanghai, China
2006 “6 Degress of Separation, Ch’i, NYC

PUBLICATIONS:

1991  Sunday arts Entertainment with Veronica Tennant, “From Propoganda to Abstraction”, C.B.C. Television, Canda
1992 City and Country Home Magazine, “letters of Intent” published by MacLean
Hunter Publishing, Toronto, Canada
1995 Arts Italy Magazine
1997  Asian Art News Magazine

COLLECTIONS:

Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
American Club, Hong Kong
Bank of China, Hong Kong
Brown Brothers Harriman, Hong Kong
Exxon Energy Ltd., Hong Kong
Grand Hyatt, Taipei, Taiwan
Prince Haik, Austria
Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto, Canada
Sun Life Corp., Toronto, Canada
Tao Ho Design, Hong Kong
UBS Bank, Hong Kon