Girl in Blue, Copyright 2002, Jian Wang -- Click for details...   Nancy with Plaits, Copyright 2002, Jian Wang -- Click for details...
Jian Wang was born in Dalian in 1958. A child drawn to art, Jian Wang learned the Russian Social Realism popular in China, but spent his own time studying Rembrandt and Michelangelo. At the tender age of twelve, the quality of his artwork earned him admission in the Dalian Youth Palace Arts, where he studied for six years.

Urged by his parents, Jian got his Bachelor of Science in Engineering at the Dalian Railway Institute, where he later taught for four years. It was here that he met Marjorie Francisco, a retired art teacher from Sacramento, who taught English at the Institute. Impressed by his artwork, Marjorie sponsored Jian's journey to America so he could have the freedom to develop his own artistic voice.

In 1986, Jian arrived in the States. He took art courses at Sacramento City College from Fred Dalkey. At University of California, Davis he learned from such modern masters as Wayne Thiebaud, Manuel Neri, Roland Peterson and David Hallowell. Jian received his M.A.degree in 1994, at California State University, Sacramento, under the advisement of Oliver Jackson.

Jian’s one-person show is from October 4 - November 3, 2002 in Sacramento, CA. At that time the gallery will introduce a new 104 page catalog/book with 82 color plates, titled The Painter published by Solomon Dubnick Press® in a deluxe hardcover Collector Edition, 275 signed and numbered (ISBN # 0-9652720-6-0), and also a softcover edition of 1500 copies with Gate Folds (ISBN # 0-9652720-5-2).

The Painter is a look at the method, form, process and feeling of Jian Wang’s work. With a mixture of Jian Wang’s paintings and James Scarborough’s words, the reader is taken on a journey through the artwork-the rapid brushstroke, the quality of light, the maestro leading his way through the symphony of color and form.

Jian Wang’s buffet of visual delights emerges from the concept of method itself of the painter’s technique, of the practice of applying paint. The process of creation is as important as the product created. Such is, at least, the essence of painting for the artist himself. No matter the subject, be it landscape, still life or figural, Jian Wang’s paintings express more than the essence of the scene, but also push against the boundaries of his medium.

The America River bordering part of Sacramento is one of Jian Wang’s favorite placed to paint. No matter what season of the year, there is something majestic about the flow of the river and its general rocky and unwavering edges. The photo was taken by Susan Skinner editor and writer of a new book about Carmichael, California. Carmichael is considered the jewel of Sacramento County.

Arts writer James Scarborough presents readers a studious, analytical glimpse of the artist at work. Using the paintings as primary documents, Scarborough weaves together form and content, and uncovers the paradox that lies at the very heart of Jian Wang’s works: the definitive moment in time when the timeless is born.