Zhou Weihua
Biographical Information

Zhou Weihua was born in 1970 in Lai Yang, Shandong Province, China.

Zhou graduated from Shandong Academy of Fine Arts in 1992. He originally intended to study Chinese ink painting, but the major he wanted was not available that year, so he chose oil painting instead.

In 1999, Zhou Weihua obtained a post-graduate degree from arguably the top art academy in China, the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing. In the 90s, there were only a few hundred undergraduate positions in the CAFA, for thousands of applicants from all over China, and there were even fewer post-graduate positions available at the CAFA. Zhou was one of the few elite artists to be selected to attend the post-graduate programme at the Central Academy.

The artist's compelling and fresh paintings have since been exhibited throughout China at museums and art expositions, in Taiwan, Singapore and Korea. And since 2006, Zhou Weihua's work has been regularly exhibited in Europe and the USA, earning him much positive international praise.

With many of China's most famous living contemporary artists now in their early to mid 40s, Zhou (now in his late 30s) is considered to be one of the more established contemporary artists in China. His positive and bright portrayal of both celebrities and ordinary people is a refreshing contribution to the Chinese art scene, which is filled with artworks containing overexaggurated expressions or violence.