刘坚 LIU JIAN

Born in Shanghai in 1961, he is a Chinese Canadian, currently living and working in Shanghai, Beijing and Toronto, Canada.

In 1983, he graduated from the Chinese Painting Department of the People's Liberation Army Art Academy in Beijing, and later joined the General Staff as a creative member.

In 1985, he graduated from the School of Management of Tongji University in Shanghai, and in the same year, he became the youngest painter of the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy at the invitation of Dean Cheng Shifa.

Recent exhibitions

In 1992, he was featured in a short documentary by CBC, Canada's national broadcaster, and soon became a prominent representative of immigrants in Canadian secondary school history textbooks, winning four National Arts Council of Canada Awards and featured in Maclean's, a well-known current affairs news magazine.

In 1989 he moved to Toronto to study and soon became Canada's most famous Christopher Ketz Gallery acting artist (along with the masters of the famous School of Eleven). Since then, it has often been reported and introduced by mainstream newspapers and magazines.

In 1988, he participated in the cultural exchange group of Shanghai Hamburg sister cities sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal Government and the West German Government, visited Hamburg, held a joint exhibition of abstract paintings of Liu Jian and Zhang Jianjun in Hamburg, and traveled to Europe.

In 1987, he participated in the delegation of famous painters of the Shanghai Municipal Government and went to Hong Kong to participate in the Shanghai 14-person painting exhibition.

During his time in Canada, he was also the most active figure in the local Chinese society, served as the director of the Chinese Artists Association, and served as the director of the Chinese Art Museum funded by the government for two and a half years.