THE PAINTINGS OF WEILIANG ZHAO
Kathleen Van Ella
Portraits/Chicago Inc.
In collaboration with Re-invent Gallery
WEILIANG ZHAO - THE PAINTER
Weiliang Zhao, b. Shanghai 1944, is a foremost example of the blending of Eastern mysticism and Western abstraction. ‘Weiliang Zhao’s … works are classical, dynamic, giving power that combines Oriental soul with western abstraction’ – Shanghai Wang Yuan Modern Art Museum. A notable commission there is H40m x W5m for HyunDai Plaza. Another is for Central Plaza, Hong Kong’s tallest building.
Weiliang Zhao had been head of the Art Department at Shanghai
University when he came to Chicago in 1987 – an important artist in the surge of Chinese contemporary art since the opening of China in the mid-1980’s. Working through the former East/West Contemporary Art Gallery in the River North Art District of Chicago, of which his representative Kathleen Van Ella was a part, the elegant and subtle beauty of Weiliang Zhao’s works became sought after in Chicago and nationwide.
Major U.S. collectors include Frederick R. Weisman Foundation of Art, McDonald’s Corporation, and the Pacific Asian Museum in Pasadena.
He has had over 38 solo exhibitions in America. He is collected in over 520 private collections in the world. Other museum collections include Laforet Museum, SOGO Art Museum in Japan, National Museum of Modern Art in Korea, Shanghai Art Museum and Hong Kong Museum of Art in China.
Weiliang Zhao’s first inspiration came from ancient Buddhist caves at Yung Gang and Long Meng. The Tang Dynasty horses particularly reflect these cave drawings and give a sense of gentle timelessness and peace. The abstracted work speaks a philosophical quiet meditation. Always Weiliang’s paintings are known for exquisite color and beauty.
Weiliang and his wife Lina, an artist herself, worked for a decade from their studio in Chicago, and later from Santa Monica California, then family and commission requirements returned them to Shanghai. As of September 2013, Weiliang and Lina, have returned their Studio and home to a mountainside above San Francisco. Their son Chen Zhao is an accomplished violinist with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.