Bowen Zhang
B.1999 Zhoushan, China
Bowen Zhang (B. Zhoushan) is an artist and curator, currently based between London and the Zhoushan Archipelago (China). Bowen graduated with an MA in Fine Art from the Slade School of Fine Art in 2024, following a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Advanced Studies from the University of Sydney. Bowen has been awarded the Sarabande Emerging Artist Fund and the Jeanne Szego Travel Award and has been recognized as the runner-up for the Ivan Juritz Prize and shortlisted for the Bloomsbury Festival. Bowen has contributed to exhibitions and events across London, Sydney, Shanghai and Zhoushan.
Drawing inspiration from his family's deep roots in fisheries and manual labour, his identity as an islander and part of the Chinese diaspora, Bowen’s practice delves into the topics concerning maritime labour, power structure regarding masculinity, corporate system and class, and leisure tourism in the rural area. Bowen’s artistic endeavours span mediums such as object-making, writing, socially engaged projects, and actions, offering a multifaceted exploration of his heritage and its intersection with contemporary issues.
Bowen intends to use the nature of the archipelago to construct a decentralized non-hierarchical framework for organizing, developing and exhibiting his practice. Instead of trying to construct a logical narrative, he tends to create poetic co-existence and curate a space for observing potential correlation. Situating his current artistic practice among islands and seas, Bowen addresses performativity and masculinity within the fishing industry and explores the personal and public relationships with labour in mainland China. Additionally, he discussed the romanticization of the rural space and its relationship with tourism. Furthermore, Bowen has also experimented with the materiality and aesthetic of researched space and tried to create a vocabulary of materials charged with pre-existing concepts and emotions including salt, rust, metal, and nets.
In addition to studio practice, Bowen also dedicated his time to community practice, which involved the Chinese diaspora, emerging artists, and non-hierarchical structure. In 2022, Bowen founded West Secret Society, an Artist-led Mandarin-speaking critique and was granted the EDI fund (2023&2024), and Action Guide Organization, an open platform for performance art focusing on re-enactment and social change. Bowen also co-founded the artist-led curatorial initiative, Small-Time Project in 2024, focusing on repurposing commercial real estate for artistic causes.
Exhibitions
2024
Group Exhibition, “How to Play Hopscotch?”, Koppel Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Group Exhibition, Slade Degree Show, Slade School of Fine Art, London, United Kingdom
Group Exhibition, The Wall is Never Innocent, Unless, 8-15 Aylesbury St, London United Kingdom
Group Exhibition, Open Call, Gallery Lock In, Brighton, United Kingdom
Group Exhibition, Welcome to the UK, Ugly Duck, London, United Kingdom
Group Exhibition, KEEP IT SIMPLE, SEXY, Barbican Art Group, London, United Kingdom
2023
Group Exhibition, Slade Interim Show, Slade School of Fine Art, London, United Kingdom
Group Exhibition, "Air, and the Absent", Resource for London, London, United Kingdom
Group Exhibition, Grow, Short-listed for 2023 Bloomsbury Festival, Bedford Square, London, United Kingdom
Group Exhibition, Platform 1, Bloomsbury Theatre, London, United Kingdom
Group Exhibition, Color/Print/Poetry, Slade, London, UK
Group Exhibition, Document, Gallery DODO, Brighton, United Kingdom
2022
Solo Exhibition (online), GELI, Shanghai, China
2021
Group Exhibition, Yi, Manning Bar, Sydney, Australia
Site Specific Installation, Labour, Zhoushan, China
Site Specific Installation, Unstable Climbing Structure, Zhoushan, China
2019
Group Exhibition, CAVA Final Exhibition, SCA, Sydney, Australia
Site Specific Installation, “Zhang” Series, Camperdown, Sydney, Australia
2018
Group Exhibition, Lighting Studio, SCA, Sydney, Australia
Curation
2024
Curator, [Game ≈ Role-playing ≈ Rule-setting], 8-15 Aylesbury Street, London United Kingdom
Curator, The Wall is Never Innocent, Unless, 8-15 Aylesbury Street, London United Kingdom
Curator, Blue tack on a spike is no good, 25 Christopher Street, London, United Kingdom
Curator, “How to Play Hopscotch?”, Koppel Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Projects
Small-Time project - Artist-led Curatorial Initiative 2024 - Present
Co-Founder
West Secret Society - Minority Student-led Critique with EDI Grant 2022 - Present
Organizer
Action Guide Organization - Open Organization facilitates Performance Art for Social Change 2022 - Present
Organizer
Uitreo - NGO Start-up for international emerging artists in AU 2019 – 2021
Co-founder
Award
Runner-up for Ivan Juritz Prize 2024
Sarabande Emerging Artist Fund 2024
Slade EDI Grant 2024
Jeanne Szego Travel Award 2023
Slade EDI Grant 2023
Short-listed for Bloomsbury Festival 2023
Dean’s List of Excellence in Academic Performance 2020
Vice Chancellor's Global Mobility Scholarship 2019
Education
Slade School of Fine Art, UCL London, United Kingdom
- MA Fine Art Media Sep 2022 - Present
- Student Representative
- Co-Chair of the EDI Committee
The University of Sydney Sydney, Australia
Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Advanced Studies Aug 2017 - Jul 2021
- Major in Visual Art and Finance
The University of Padua Padua, Italy
- Exchange program Jul 2019 - Aug 2019
Press & Public Event
Panel talk, Panel talk on DIY culture in London Art Scene, Hello Dump, 2024
Interview, Artist Talk｜张博文：以“群岛的特性”组织多样的具身实践, Artisle艺术岛屿, 2024
Artist Talk, Pathways, Cambridge Artworks, Cambridge, UK, 2024