{"id":11,"date":"2013-12-19T14:56:04","date_gmt":"2013-12-19T14:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zhanghongmn.com\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2024-05-27T12:43:07","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T12:43:07","slug":"biography","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/zhanghongmn.com\/?page_id=11","title":{"rendered":"Bio"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Student of Shen Shijia<\/span><\/h3>\n

Hong Zhang was born and raised in Shanghai, China. Despite growing up in the midst of the Cultural Revolution, Hong had the unique opportunity to study Chinese calligraphy and brush painting under the late Master Artist, Shen Shijia. \u00a0Through this professional and systematically training, he developed a passion for the cultural and poetic aspects of this traditional art form, and continued study in his studio until left abroad.<\/p>\n

Fueled by a Desire to Share the Art and Culture of China<\/span><\/h3>\n

In 1985, Hong immigrated to the United States as an MBA candidate at the Carlson School of Management. \u00a0After two and a half years, his wife, Qing, and son, Michael, followed and they began to build up their home. \u00a0Fueled by his desire to share his artwork and cultural traditions with the Minnesotan community, he founded the Hong Zhang Studio in 1992. Word spread quickly and he soon had a group of dedicated students. \u00a0Many of Hong\u2019s students began at a young age and continued through high school graduation and into college and young adulthood; a few have gone on to pursue art professionally at schools such as the San Francisco Academy of Art University. \u00a0He also holds classes for adult students, some of whom have been studying with Hong for over 17 years and have now founded their own teaching studios. In 1995, Hong also began teaching beginning and intermediate Chinese Calligraphy courses at the University of Minnesota. \u00a0To this day, his courses have been immensely popular among the college students. Hong receives dozens of requests to open another class from students on the waiting list at the beginning of each semester.<\/p>\n

A Major Exhibition<\/span><\/h3>\n

In February 2009, Hong opened an exhibition entitled \u201cChi: Capturing the Spirit\u201d in the Inez Greenberg Gallery at the newly renovated Bloomington Art Center. The gallery featured both his masterpieces and the works of eleven of his most advanced students. Hong\u2019s works were done in traditional and modern art styles and encompassed a wide range of subjects including the Yellow Mountains in China, the Black Forest in Germany, and even the local Minnehaha Falls. The exhibition was highly praised and is a testament to both Hong\u2019s mastery in his art and to his dedication to cultivating impeccable technique, passion and appreciation for Chinese calligraphy in his students. Currently, he is already preparing the next group of young, dedicated students to join him in his next exhibition.<\/p>\n

Mastering Techniques and Appreciating Chinese Culture<\/span><\/h3>\n

In the classroom, Hong not only emphasizes the importance of mastering the brush skills and techniques of calligraphy, but also focuses on giving his students a broader appreciation of Chinese history and culture. In addition, through the discipline and concentration required to study calligraphy, his students have learned to be diligent, to set goals and work towards achieving them, to rise to challenges, and to act with integrity both in and out of the classroom. \u00a0Hong also incorporates the importance of artistic collaboration among his students. Starting in 2005, he has held an annual event bringing together his advanced students and challenges them to each use their creative strengths to produce one piece of unified artwork.<\/p>\n

Creating a Methodology for the Western Student<\/span><\/h3>\n

Through his teaching experience, Hong realized there was a lack of model textbooks on Chinese calligraphy styles and techniques tailored to his students who do not speak and\/or read the Chinese language, and thus wrote and published two books to help these students elevate their understanding and appreciation of Chinese calligraphy history and concepts. \u00a0The first book, titled \u201cLi Shu Qian Zi Wen,\u201d used the Li Script of Calligraphy to model Zhou Xingsi\u2019s infamous Thousand Character Essay, which is China\u2019s earliest literacy text used for classical language study. \u00a0The second, \u201cThe Art of Chinese Calligraphy – Regular Script Lectures and Models,\u201d gives a comprehensive study of Regular Script. \u00a0Both books have proven to be useful tools for all students to learn Chinese calligraphy. \u00a0Due to numerous requests for a book on a more advanced style, he is currently working on writing a book focused on Caoshu, the Grass \/ Cursive Script.<\/p>\n

His Work Reaching Beyond the Studio<\/span><\/h3>\n

Beyond teaching, Hong has also stayed committed to sharing his artwork with the community, and is grateful for the recognition he has received. \u00a0His works are currently on display in numerous corporate offices and personal collections, and he continuously updates the gallery in his studio. \u00a0He highlights the importance of symbolism in Chinese art, and has composed poetry for many meaningful, custom-design works for special celebrations such as birthdays, anniversaries, and housewarmings. Additionally, Hong was honored to serve as the calligraphy judge for the 49th<\/sup> annual Sumi-e Society of America Calligraphy Exhibition in September 2012. \u00a0Founded in 1963 by Motoi Oi, Sumi-e is a national organization dedicated to foster and encourage an appreciation of East Asian brush painting.<\/p>\n

Hong currently resides in Bloomington with his wife, Qing. Besides his art, he enjoys practicing Tai Chi, gardening with Qing, and spending time with his two children. Michael is currently living in Belmont, California with his wife, Cynthia, and three daughters, Aria, Lily and Madi, and has been working in the Boston Consulting Group for more than ten years. Melinda moved back to Minnesota after graduating from Yale University in May 2013 and is now a medical student at the University of Minnesota. She is now serve as OBGY doctor in Minneapolis area. She and her husband Graham reside in Wayzata Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Click here to contact Hong.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Student of Shen Shijia Hong Zhang was born and raised in Shanghai, China. Despite growing up in the midst of the Cultural Revolution, Hong had the unique opportunity to study Chinese calligraphy and brush painting under the late Master … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":80,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhanghongmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhanghongmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhanghongmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhanghongmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhanghongmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/zhanghongmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1399,"href":"https:\/\/zhanghongmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions\/1399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhanghongmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}