Zhu Jinshi, born in 1954, is a pioneer of Chinese abstract art and installation art. He began to create abstract paintings in the early 1980s and moved to Berlin in 1986. Since then, he has been experimenting with performance, installation, and conceptual art. In 1994, Zhu returned to China, dividing his time between Berlin and Beijing until 2010. At present, he lives and works in Beijing.

Looking back at Zhu Jinshi’s art practice over the past forty years, abstract painting and conceptual installation are two practices that parallel each other while sometimes being confrontational. Zhu started his career with abstract painting, but while his installation practice stands alone from his painting practice, it has also inspired new forms of painting. Only when the two are viewed together can the striking aesthetic value of Zhu’s works be touched.

Zhu’s solo exhibitions include The Rainbow Series (2022), Yuan Art Museum, Beijing, China; Next Week to Milan (2022), Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai, China; Wood · Character (2020), Fusion Art Center, Beijing, China; Ganjiakou 303 (2018), Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai, China; Performance in Paint: Zhu Jinshi (2015), Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing, China; and Zhu Jinshi: Boat, a Yi Pai installation (2015), organised by Pearl Lam Galleries at Exchange Square, Hong Kong, China.

Group shows include Uncommon Language (2020–21), Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada; Trilogy of Contemporary Art in China: The Scar (2020), Busan Museum of Art, Busan, South Korea; Inaugural exhibition (2019), Rubell Museum, Miami, USA; The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China (2019–20), LACMA, Los Angeles, USA; A Fairy Tale of Red Times: Works from the White Rabbit Collection (2019), National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; 28 Chinese (2015), San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, USA and Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA; and Perfection by Chance—A Yi Pai Series Exhibition (2015), Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong, China.