Ren Zhenyu was born in Tianjin in 1976. He graduated in 1999 from the Oil Painting Department at Tianjin Academy of Fine Art where he is currently working as lecturer. Since the beginning of his career his great talent has been recognized and appreciated by galleries and collectors throughout China. More recently he also has gained fame in Europe, especially through his portrait series of two historical icons: Andy Warhol and Chairman Mao. In this series, Ren plays with colours and China’s most famous image, expressing his own abstract-expressionist interpretation of the Chairman’s face portrayed from different angles. Far from neo-realism, he belongs to the trend of pop-political art and by choosing Mao his subject, Ren attempts not only to celebrate Mao’s image from a contemporary perspective, but he also aims to reconcile some very dolorous and uncomfortable memories.  In his work, Ren alludes to the profound political changes that have been taking place in China since Mao’s death (the same year the artist was born) and to the constant need for Chinese artists to connect themselves to the past.


Selected Exhibitions

2008   Ren Zhenyu Solo Exhibition", Drs Willem Kerseboom Gallery, Amsterdam   2007   Solo Exhibition "Looks Just Beautiful", Joyce Gallery, Hong Kong
    Ju Shata –2007 New Elite Award, Beijing
     Amsterdam International Gallery Exposition, Netherlands
     China International Gallery Exhibition, Beijing
     Solo Exhibition, Beijing
2006     Exchanging Group Exhibition, China, Japan, France
2005     Solo Exhibition, “In The Name of Face”, Beijing
     Guangzhou Modern Art Fair, Guangzhou
2004     Group Exhibition, 3rd National Oil Painting Exhibition, Beijing
2002     Group Exhibition, “New Changes”- Young artist nomination, Tianjin
1999     Group Exhibition, 9th National Fine Arts Exhibition