Zhang Huan was born in 1965 at An Yang, in the province of Henan. He has studied Painting at the Beijing Fine Arts Academy. After a long stay in New York, he settled in Shanghai where he is living and working since 2005. At the beginning of his career, in the 90’s, he focused on performance art, using his own body, often naked, even submitting it to extreme conditions, as he did in 1994 in Beijing for the “12 m²” experience: having spread all over himself a mixture of fish oil and honey, he sat for hours in a public latrine, while insects were crawling over his body. Since his return to China, Zhang Huan mainly dedicated himself to installation, sculpture and painting. He also introduced a personal technique, using burnt incense residues from the Shanghai Buddhist temples to realize his famous ash-paintings and ash-sculptures. He has held exhibitions in major world museums, such as Carriageworks in Sydney, Pace Gallery and Storm King Art Center in New York. His works can be found in foremost collections, both private and public.