Scan Magazine | Artist of the Month | Norway
The time by Yang Zhu.
Artist of the Month, Norway
Chinese oil painter who craved the quiet life At the age of ten, Chinese artist Yang Zhu begged his parents to swap the music lessons for art lessons. Today, he is a successful artist, having moved all the way across the world to Norway in 1989 to realise his artistic dream.
father having studied in Russia for many years,” he says.
to study music and learn to play an instrument,” Zhu continues. “I played the violin, but I hated it. All school papers were always full of drawings in any empty corner. I found that I could use images to better understand things as a child. I always dreamed of being a painter, because I can express myself without words.”
“When returning from Russia, he brought with him a lot of art books. This had a big effect on me from childhood, but like so many other Chinese children, I was forced
After spending a long time convincing his parents, at age ten, Zhu was allowed to swap the music teacher for an art teacher. “Although I was warned by my parents
By Line Elise Svanevik | Photos courtesy of the artist
The Sandnes-based artist focuses on oil paintings that quite predominantly feature poignant images of women. “I was born in Beijing in 1962, and grew up in Shanghai. My upbringing was free and open-minded, which was rather different from the traditional way, much due to my 98 | Issue 110 | March 2018