Mao Yan was born in 1968 in Hunan, China. He graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (China) in 1991. He currently lives and works in Nanjing. As one of the most prominent painters specializing in portraits in China, Mao captures silent everyday faces with delicate and subtle brushstrokes, inviting viewers into a moment of contemplation, free from change. Critic Li Xianting has praised him as a representative painter of Chinese neo-realism. For nearly three decades, Mao has continuously explored the expressive nature of portrait painting in the contemporary era. In his recent works, he composes figurative and abstract paintings with poetry, using his signature techniques to depict the spiritual world of humanity behind each face.
Mao’s solo exhibitions have been held at Song Art Museum (Beijing), Fosun Art Center (Chengdu), Pingshan Art Museum (Shenzhen), Nanjing University of the Arts Art Museum (Nanjing), Geneva ART & PUBLIC (Geneva), Shanghai Art Museum (Shanghai), Pace Gallery (New York, Beijing, London), etc. His works have been exhibited in the National Museum of Fine Arts (Sao Paulo), BEIVUE Museum (Brussels), Star Art Museum (Shanghai), Minsheng Art Museum (Beijing), OCAT Contemporary Art Center (Shenzhen), Today Art Museum (Beijing), Minsheng Art Museum (Shanghai), etc. His works are collected by the M+ Art Museum, Shanghai Art Museum, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shanghai Powerlong Art Museum, Art Museum of the University of Hong Kong, Yuz Art Foundation, Star Art Museum, Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and Long Museum.
