Jia Lu is one of America’s best-known figurative painters from China. She was born in Beijing to a family of artists, the daughter of Lu Enyi, famous for his paintings of historical and military subjects.
Jia Lu entered the China Central Academy of Art and Design in 1980 as a student of the master ink painter Fan Zeng and moved to Canada in 1983 to continue her studies at the Toronto School of Art and York University. Having spent nearly 30 years working in the West, Jia Lu has chosen an individual style that reflects her reading of Buddhist and Christian traditions. Her goal is to assimilate tradition into a contemporary sensibility and uncover sympathetic currents running through distinct cultures.
Her work resonates with Eastern philosophical and Western religious concepts, blended with her own deep sense of humanism and personal imagery. This highly individual and personal approach to painting complements her focus on women's spiritual identity & self-realization.
| Fine Art | |
|---|---|
| 1984-2014 | Held over 200 solo and group gallery exhibitions of ink and oil paintings in
Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington, Denver, Seattle, Boston, San Diego, Las Vegas,
Honolulu, Maui, Toronto, Ottawa, London, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Yokohama,
Osaka, Niigata, Kyoto, Nagano, Beijing & Shanghai.
Detailed list of exhibitions |
| 2010 | Art Beijing International Art Fair |
| China International Gallery Expo, Beijing | |
| 2009 | Fine Art Beijing Art Fair |
| Shanghai International Art Fair | |
| 1988-2008 | Lifetime Director, Ontario Chinese Artists Association |
| 1987-2008 | Twelve time exhibitor at Annual International ArtExpo Art Fair in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Jia Lu exhibition regularly described as “highlight of the show” by ArtExpo Director Eric Smith. |
| 2001 | Jia Lu limited edition print “Armillary Sphere” selected among top 5 of 2000 by U.S. Art magazine. |
| 2000 | 26 oil paintings selected for first solo exhibition by a Chinese American woman at United Nations Headquarters, New York. |
| 1999 | 15 paintings selected to represent Chinese oil painting at “99 China Week” International Festival at UNESCO, Paris. Jia Lu oil painting “Age of Bronze” collected by President Jacques Chirac. |
| Invited by Pacific Asia Museum to show 20 paintings in “The Feminine in Art” four-woman exhibition, Pasadena, California. | |
| 1998 | Accompanied Deputy Secretary of UNHRC Annabel Weiner, and artist Ting Shao Kuang to open the Shanghai International Art Fair. |
| 1994 | Invited by the Edmonton Art Museum to exhibit 20 drawings and paintings, the first solo exhibition by a Chinese-Canadian artist at the museum. |
| 1990 | Invited by the Sarnia Metro Council and Sarnia Municipal Art Gallery to exhibit 30 paintings at “Jia Lu: East meets West” solo exhibition. |
| 1989 | Participated in exhibition at Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto; Jia Lu ink painting “Mist” selected for museum permanent collection; painting “Drifting” selected for Canadian Ministry of Finance permanent collection. |
| Invited by Ontario Premier David Peterson to participate in Ontario government sponsored exhibition, Toronto. | |
| Design Work | |
| 2008-2009 | Member, Design Team, Shanghai Corporate Pavilion, Shanghai 2010 World Expo |
| 2005-2008 | Founder, Chief Designer, Transcendance Productions, Los Angeles. |
| Completed designs for “Transcendance,” a large-scale musical stage production for Las Vegas inspired by Chinese myth and legend, and signed a coproduction agreement with AEG Live. | |
| 2003 | Designed 6m tall bronze sculpture “Goddess of Life,” commissioned by the Governor of Guam as a symbol of the people of Guam, installed at the entrance of the Guam International Airport. |
| 1998 | Founder, Lead Artist, Alius Corporation Fine Art Publishing, Los Angeles. |
| 1993 | Producer, Research Director and Concept Designer for ”Recreation of Noble Women’s Costume from the Ancient Capital Chang’an,” a museum exhibition of costume for Japanese museums. |
| Art Consultant, Nara municipal tourism program. | |
| 1992 | Chief Designer appointed by Pierre Cardin for “Pierre Cardin presents Five Dynasties of Chinese Fashion” fashion show. |
| Japan-China project coordinator and Japanese Advising Designer for Japanese-funded China television series “Yang Guifei.” | |
| 1991 | International Consultant, Tang Dynasty Cultural Research Institute, Tokyo. |
| Developed concept and organized creative team from France, Italy, Canada and Japan for international film production of historical drama “Ring of Jade.” | |
| Organizer and Selection committee for Mori Art Museum exhibition of Chinese art “Four Seasons,” Tokyo. | |
| 1990 | Researcher, Tang Dynasty Cultural Research Institute, Tokyo. |
| Chief Designer, Central Asian Buddhist Art Museum (Tokyo); designed 700 sq m of murals and sculptural models for recreation of Buddhist cave temples in Japan. | |
| Concept, plan and content design for large-scale Buddhist themed entertainment park “Tang Garden” near Narita airport, Abebotanen Co., Tokyo. | |
| 1987 | Activity Organizer, Royal Ontario Museum “Hong Kong Festival.” |
| 1979 | Art Editor, Ocean magazine, China State Oceans Administration |