Shengtian Zheng is an internationally renowned artist, scholar, curator, and cultural ambassador whose work has significantly shaped contemporary Chinese art, enriched British Columbia’s artistic landscape, and advanced global artistic dialogue.

Born in 1938 in China, Zheng came of age amid war, revolution, and political upheaval. Trained as an oil painter, he later became a professor at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. In 1982, he travelled to the United States as one of the early Chinese artists to study in the West following the Cultural Revolution. After returning to China in 1984, the books, artworks, and ideas he brought back helped catalyze experimental contemporary art practices, earning him the widely recognized title of the “Godfather of Chinese contemporary art.”

Following an unanticipated relocation to British Columbia, Canada, in 1990, Zheng co-founded Art Beatus, Canada’s first gallery dedicated to contemporary Asian art. Under his leadership, the gallery introduced Canadian audiences to groundbreaking Chinese artists while also supporting underrepresented artists in British Columbia. His work played a pivotal role in fostering artistic exchange between Asia and Canada.

In 1998, Zheng co-organized Jiangnan: Modern and Contemporary Art from South of the Yangtze River, one of the most significant China–Canada art initiatives of its time. Presented across multiple Vancouver galleries, the exhibition brought together more than fifty artists and scholars, attracting international attention and helping position British Columbia as a site of global artistic dialogue.

In 1999, he co-founded Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, the first English-language academic journal devoted to the field. As managing editor, Zheng helped shape international discourse on contemporary Asian art, and Yishucontinues to be a leading publication today.

Zheng has also played an influential role within major cultural institutions in British Columbia. As a co-founder of Centre A, Vancouver’s International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, he helped establish an important platform for artistic experimentation and mentorship. He later worked with the Vancouver Art Gallery, contributing to the development of its Institute of Asian Art (now the Centre for Global Asias), expanding the institution’s engagement with contemporary Asian art practices.

Beyond Canada, Zheng has curated major international exhibitions, including Art and China’s Revolution, Shanghai Modern, the 2004 Shanghai Biennale, and Winds from Fusang: Mexico and China in the Twentieth Century, among others. His own artworks have been exhibited internationally, and his writings have been translated into multiple languages, further extending his global influence.

Over the past decade, Zheng has devoted himself to the study of Mexican art and its influence in Asia. At 88, he remains an active cultural thinker and practitioner, with recent publications including Sino-Mexican Art and Cultural Exchanges in the Twentieth Century and Art and Modernism in Socialist China (co-edited). He is a Research Fellow at Simon Fraser University and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. In 2025, he received the King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Online resources
Personal website: https://shengproject.com/index.html
Asia Art Archive: https://aaa.org.hk/en/collections/search/archive/zheng-shengtian-archive