Zhimin Guan , Associate Professor of Art at Minnesota State University Moorhead. Born in China in1962,received a BFA in painting and drawing at Fuyang teacher,s College in China in 1984. From 1985 to 1994, he taught painting, drawing and design at Dalian Institute of Industrial design in Dalian China. He earned his MFA in painting and drawing at Fort Hays State University, Kansas. In 1998, he began teaching painting, drawing, figure drawing and design at MSUM Art Department.

His paintings, drawings and prints have been exhibited throughout China and the United States in museums and galleries which include: China National Art Gallery in Beijing, China National Academy of Fine Arts Gallery in Hangzhou, Singapore Asian Artist Gallery in Singapore City, The Salmagundi Club in New York City, CCC/USA,Philadelphia, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Dunton Gallery in Chicago, The Fraser Gallery in Washington DC; Museum of the Southwest in Texas, North Dakota Museum of Art, Rourke Art Museum in Moorhead and The Plains Art Museum in Fargo. He has received more than 20 awards in around country and abroad. His works have been published in art journals such as Asian Artists( Singapore), ArtObservation( Beijing),China Picture Story( Beijing),Lincoln Journal Star ( Linclon, NE), Marvelous Color ( Dalian, China), The Metropolis,( Shanghai, China), Autumn Art Auction, North Dakota Museum of Art,( Grand Forks, ND)

 Artist Statement   The majority of my recent work focuses on the singular figurative image within a surreal landscape. The landscape manifests itself with the elemental aspect of space, light, and atmosphere. The contrast between the delicate smooth human flesh, broken torso and rough landscape creates a strong sense of tension that demands a close attention. These beings seem as if they move throughout their environment, telling an endless story about the harmful vestiges of human culture’s growth and decay. My images work best when they reveal a tension between dream and reality, and between the limitations and endlessness of human desire. The sensitive human flesh and torn-up torso enable me to contemplate attraction and repulsion, abstract and existential.   In my latest abstract paintings, I strive to create metaphysical forms of mountains and water in large gesture brushstrokes. Mountain and water visualize the opposite roles of Ying and Yang, solid and void, energy and charm. The constant motion between the opposite forces reveals the inherent order of nature. During the painting process, I am amazed to see how painting materials and gesture marks transform each other into a spiritually and physically integrated autonomy. I strive to establish a vital breath and universal harmony through forms, colors, space and dynamic gestures.   In my art career, I have always incorporated the traditional with the experimental, the figurative and the abstract. I wish to continually change through aesthetic modification over time and discover the right form and metaphor among endless possibilities.