BEI Jiaxiang, an explorer freely traversing between Eastern and Western aesthetics. His creations transcend resemblance, pointing directly to the soul—bestowing awe-inspiring visual expression upon memory, time, life, and all intangible things.
Present the weight of sensation beyond form and color.
About Bei Jiaxiang
Born in Shanghai in 1953, with ancestral roots in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. In 1991, BEI emigrated to Australia.He was awarded the First Prize in Oil Painting at the First Shanghai Literature and Art Award. the Gold Medal at the Robert Art Exhibition in Australia, and the Excellence Award at the Campbell Art Exhibition, and his work was selected for the 6th National Art Exhibition. His paintings are held in the collections of the National Art Museum of China, the Shanghai Art Museum, Telstra (Australia), and institutions in Japan, South Korea, and Chinese Taipei. He has held solo exhibitions at landmark Chinese venues including the National Art Museum of China, the Shanghai Haipai Art Museum, and the Peace Hotel in Shanghai, etc.
Among Chinese artists who went abroad at the end of the last century, BEI stands out for his notable return to Shanghai, where he has gained academic recognition and re-established his artistic coordinates through sustained creative practice. Over more than four decades, he has carved out an effective path for the contemporary transformation of traditional art, opening up a “third realm” between figuration and abstraction—a space where real emotion and contemporary aesthetics merge in depth. His work offers a paradigm of artistic creation imbued with both humanistic warmth and the texture of the times. Grounded in a profound understanding of both Eastern and Western artistic traditions, BEI’s exploration embeds the imagery aesthetics of Chinese literati painting and Eastern spiritual paradigms into the oil painting system, while simultaneously feeding Western formal sensibilities back into ink practice, thereby generating an entirely new art language that integrates Eastern heritage with contemporary qualities. This deep cultivation not only enriches the genealogy of artistic language in contemporary transformation, but also anchors a pivotal, indispensable, and still-evolving academic reference point within the development of contemporary Chinese imagery painting.
After graduating from the Oil Painting Department of Shanghai Normal University in 1976, BEI stayed on to teach. In 1982, he enrolled in the first Oil Painting Advanced Study Program at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. His 1984 graduation work Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow drew significant attention in art circles, winning the First Prize in Oil Painting at the First Shanghai Literature and Art Award, being selected for the 6th National Art Exhibition, and entering the collection of the National Art Museum of China. The works of this period are distinguished by solid realist skills and academic modeling ability, establishing his early professional foundation.
In 1991, BEI emigrated to Australia, where he re-examined his cultural identity against the backdrop of cross-cultural visual traditions. He began incorporating the calligraphic brushwork of Chinese tradition into oil painting, exploring an intrinsic fusion of Eastern and Western art languages. This absorption and acculturation of dual cultural experiences marked the beginning of his shift from traditional realism toward imagery expression. During his years in Australia, his works were frequently selected for local exhibitions and won awards, and he signed with galleries in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Australia, the United States, Japan, and South Korea, gradually shaping his distinctive artistic identity.
After returning to China in 2007, BEI turned toward a more self-conscious exploration of art language, pursuing the state where “the image is pared down, yet the meaning lingers.” He frees form from the constraints of accurate representation—blurred yet retaining its structural integrity, loose yet rigorously disciplined. As the boundaries of form dissolve, a space for spirit opens up. This exploration runs through diverse subjects: his horse-themed series deconstructs and reconstructs form with calligraphic brushwork, turning objects into vehicles of life force; the Shanghai Impression series downplays narrative, distilling urban memory into visually textured images through haziness and dissolution; the Bloosom and Graceful Bearing series set aside precise anatomical description, using fields of color and flowing brushstrokes to convey life’s fleeting breath; the Surprising Charm series incorporates the spirit of traditional opera into the interplay of brushwork and color, capturing the characters’ inner vitality with the most restrained of strokes. The “dissolving” quality in BEI’s pictures is rooted in his early grounding in Chinese calligraphy and painting, particularly his mastery of cursive scripts—he merges the expressive essence of traditional ink art into the color system of oil painting, endowing his works with an exuberant vitality that is always suffused with a distinctive lyrical temperament.
Auction Records
July 7, 2019: Two floral oil paintings by Mr. BEI Jiaxiang, a leading figure in Shanghai Imagism oil painting, were sold at the 2019 Spring Contemporary Art Auction at Shanghai Auction House Co., Ltd., achieving hammer prices of ¥230,000 and ¥552,000, respectively.
June 4, 2021: At Poly Auction Beijing 2021 Spring Art Auction—Contemporary and Modern Art Dedicated Sale, Mr. BEI Jiaxiang’s oil painting Fragrant Bloom of Mr. BEI Jiaxiang, a leading figure in Shanghai Imagism oil painting, started at ¥500,000 and achieved the hammer price of ¥2.07 million.
Chronology
1953 Born in Shanghai, China; ancestral home in Suzhou.
1960Enrolled in Shanghai Zhicheng Private Primary School. In the same year, began practicing calligraphy under his father’s guidance, copying works of masters such as WANG Xizhi and SUN Guoting.
1966 Interrupted calligraphy practice; began self-studying sketching, copying, and doodling.
1967 Enrolled in Shanghai Hongkou District Wuqi Middle School. During this period, due to propaganda needs, he copied dozens of large-scale portraits of leaders.
1970 Sent to Liqiao Brigade, Dayang Commune, Bo County, Huaibei, Anhui Province, as part of the “rusticated youth” program.
1973 Recommended by Professor ZHANG Zishen (later President of Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts) from Anhui Normal University, he was admitted to the Department of Arts and Literature at Shanghai Normal University as a three-year “Worker-Peasant-Soldier” student. During this time, he studied oil painting under SUN Shuzhan (a graduate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and a distinguished student of the renowned artist DONG Xiwen). Mr. SUN had a profound influence on his artistic cognition, philosophy of life, and artistic outlook, and is regarded by BEI as his mentor in life.
1976 Graduated from the Department of Arts and Literature at Shanghai Normal University. In the same year, began teaching at the Department of Fine Arts at SNU.
1977 His work Four Cyclists was selected for the Shanghai Fine Arts Exhibition and was collected by the Shanghai Art Museum.
1982 Admitted to the first Oil Painting Advanced Studies Seminar at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, where his classmates included CHENG Conglin, SUN Weimin, and SHEN Jiawei, etc.
1984 Graduated from the Oil Painting Advanced Studies Seminar, completing his graduation piece Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. In the same year, returned to Shanghai Normal University to teach at the Department of Fine Arts.
1985 The work Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow was exhibited at the 6th National Art Exhibition and subsequently collected by the National Art Museum of China. In the same year, his oil painting Ferry was selected for the Advancing Chinese Youth Art Exhibition in Shanghai.
1986 The work Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow was awarded first prize in the “1984-1985 Shanghai Literature and Art Works Exhibition” held by the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
1987 The work Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow was awarded the Shanghai Literature and Art Creation Award; and work Pedestrians in the Rain was accepted into the Comprehensive Fine Art Exhibition of the Shanghai International Art Festival.
1988 Following evaluation and recommendation by Professor LI Tianxiang from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Professor HAN Heping from the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, he was appointed Associate Professor at the Department of Fine Arts, Shanghai Normal University.
1991 Moved to Australia. In the same year, began copying master’s original works at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, gradually refining his oil painting techniques.
1992 The work Red Balloon won the Gold Award for Oil Painting at the Robert Art Exhibition in Australia and an Excellence Award at the Campbell Art Exhibition.
1994–1997 Worked as a professional painter; works collected by collectors and art institutions from various countries.
1999 Signed with SILKLAND, a renowned gallery in Tokyo, consistently creating and selling works, with his artistic style maturing.
2001 Focused on creation in Melbourne. Between 2001 and 2006, held solo exhibitions 2–3 times annually in Japan.
2007 Returned to China for artistic creation; works were collected by various collectors during this period.
2013 Held a solo exhibition, BEI Jiaxiang Ink Figurative Art Exhibition, at the Shanghai Meibo Art Museum.
2014 Held a solo exhibition, Grand Expression – BEI Jiaxiang Oil Painting and Ink Art Exhibition, at the Shanghai Meibo Art Museum; participated in The 18th Shanghai Art Fair.
2015 Represented the China Pavilion at the Korea Belt and Road Art Exhibition (Dream · Busan) art fair; held a solo exhibition, Imagery – BEI Jiaxiang Art Exhibition, at the Shanghai Meibo Art Museum; participated in The 19th Shanghai Art Fair.
2016 Participated in The 20th Shanghai Art Fair.
2017 Held a solo exhibition, Chasing the Wind, at the Shanghai Meibo Art Museum; participated in The 21st Shanghai Art Fair.
2018 Participated in The 22nd Shanghai Art Fair.
2019 Held About Us – BEI Jiaxiang Teacher-Student Exhibition at the Shanghai Meibo Art Museum; participated in the first Belt and Road Art Shanghai International Fair; participated in the 2nd China International Import Expo.
2020 Participated in the 2nd Belt and Road Art Shanghai International Fair.
2021 Held Time Polyphony: BEI Jiaxiang Art Exhibition at Zhangyuan, Shanghai; held Riding the Waves: BEI Jiaxiang’s Old Shanghai Thematic Art Exhibition at the Shanghai Meibo Art Museum; in the same year, his work Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow was invited to be featured on the cover of academic journal Oil Painting.
2022 The work Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow was showcased in Youth in Fine Art Works: Classic Works Collected by NAMOC host by National Art Museum of China; Held Galloping Horses in Clear Autumn: BEI Jiaxiang Horse Series Exhibition at the Shanghai Meibo Art Museum.
2023 Held Only a Startling Dream – BEI Jiaxiang Jing Yun Series Art Exhibition at the Shanghai Meibo Art Museum; participated in the 3rd Belt and Road Art Shanghai International Fair; held Harmonious Light, Fragrant Shadow, Echo of the Shanghai Style——Bei Jiaxiang Art Exhibition at the Peace Hotel Shanghai.
2025 Held Ink Force in Flow——Breakthrough and Replenishment of BEI Jiaxiang art exhibition at the Shanghai Meibo Art Museum. In the same year, participated in the 4thBelt and Road Art Shanghai International Fair.
Between 2014 and 2025, BEI Jiaxiang’s works have been widely collected by institutions such as Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai Jinmao Tower Art Institution, Telstra Corporation (Australia), China Exhibition Center, and other institutions and private collectors.
2026:"All in One——The Imagery and Spirit Resonance Art Exhibition of BEI Jiaxiang" at The Hai Museum of Art, Shanghai
2026：All in One – BEI Jiaxiang's Horse-Themed Art Exhibition (Beijing Leg) National Art Museum of China
2026：Exhibiting at the Singapore "NOWASIA"
