Jiajia Wang China, b. 1985

Jiajia Wang (b. 1985, Beijing, China) belongs to a generation profoundly shaped by the popularisation of television, the advent of the internet, and the ubiquity of pop culture. His practice draws on art history, comics, animation, video games, sports, memes, and cinematic references, weaving them into an expansive visual language that navigates the contemporary image-saturated world.

Building upon his breakthrough Adventure series (2016), Wang’s works combine digitally sketched collages, gestural abstraction, and modern printing techniques in a confident interplay of form and texture. Thick impasto, vivid pigments, and expressive brushstrokes are set against digitally edited backdrops, creating multi-layered compositions that oscillate between abstraction and figuration. This process reflects the pace and visual overload of the digital era while embedding a deliberate, meditative awareness.

Wang’s training began not with Western-style sketching but through the disciplined drawing of lines and the imitation of masterworks — an approach that instilled a deep engagement with traditional technique. He continues to reinterpret these foundations through contemporary methods, merging expressive painting with the layered aesthetics of digital culture.

Wang received his BA Honours degree from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in 2008. His work invites viewers into a space where the frenetic pulse of the modern metropolis meets the composure of painterly reflection, embodying what he describes as the “beauty and ataraxia” that can still be found within the relentless rhythms of city life. Jiajia Wang lives and works between Beijing and London.