In 2002 I held an in-depth discussion with Zhang Jian, and after putting the materials in order, published the piece in Gallery Magazine that same year. At the time, Zhang Jian was in Beijing and the Century Hanmo Gallery was holding his first solo exhibition-"The Glorious and the Grieved."  The pieces exhibited included three series that spanned 1997 through 2002: "Sunlight Impressions," "City Scenery," "Lake Shishahai (Houhai)." In fact, these three series possessed a kind of transformative connection through their inner substance, thus mutually constituting the main thread between Zhang Jian's early artistic creations and primary appearance and direction. "Sunlight Impressions" is the part that Zhang Jian began to create while he was still studying at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.  Although in large part he applied the styles of "impressionism," forming the depiction of outdoor light distinctive of his work, but even more so, documenting or commemorating of the signs of community life. As a result, the attitude of young people who "have never tasted sorrow," and the leisurely, warm scenes, fill up the painting, thus forming a kind of sedulous flaunting. And from deeper layers address the conclusions of recognition. Unstintingly using a kind of dissembling style, Zhang Jian's attempts thus take the form of exaggeration to make known a purely individual "domain." Following this, his "City Scenery," conversely, can be regarded as a kind of readjustment in bearing. The painter started to "force himself to contemplate more, emphasizing a new kind of method of observation." The changes in the viewpoint of observation, bring, first of all, a "new change" in subject matter, and Zhang Jian, from his original so-called "entry" and immersion into individual emotion, and the clear direction after his "exit," then traversed the creation of  "City Scenery," and became actively involved with the "Public Landscape." Although there are surely some deficiencies in control over the surface of the painting and in certain particulars of painting expression, the changes in subject matter doubtlessly evoke the painter's innovations in technique, such as the large-scale use of even application of paint to the background that generalize the composition of form and color, emphasizing his treatment of the horizon, presaging the changes in the futurity of Zhang Jian's orientation. The final "Shishahai (Houhai)" not only can be regarded as a middle road between Zhang Jian's previous two series, but also can be see as a certain kind of improvement on his previous work.  On the face of things, Zhang Jian seems to have returned to his starting point of "Sunlight Impressions," closely observing anew the "trivial matters of ordinary people" nearby. But these pieces undoubtedly possess a background, or field that has a  "public character,"-"Shishahai." At the same time, even though the painter sometimes implants his own figure into the painting, this does not actually signify "egocentricity," but rather a kind of involvement, a kind of sedulous involvement. The reason that "Shishahai (Houhai)" leaves a deep impression on us lies in a kind of pure and simple beauty, sunlight, blue sky, clear blue water, and shade, as well as youthful men and women, that correspond to the definitive site of  "Shishahai," unfolding in the juxtaposition between history and present reality a kind of urban character of polyvariance, poise, and difference.

　　In fact, in Zhang Jian's "Shishahai" series, there is also a category of so-called "swimmers." During this period, however, the depiction of these "swimmers" bears a rather complicated method of treatment. "Some people are swimming below, some people are watching above," however, "there is a kind of connection between those above and those below-one can say that the people above are teasing and mocking the swimmers, a little like the feeling of telling a story. But utilizing descriptive methods is undoubtedly only a provisional means, so that it is easier to support the painter in taking his thinking a step further. Certainly, in later renditions of "swimmers," Zhang Jian's intention towards the "purification" of subject matter is increasingly explicit, "more of the paintings are of solitary individuals, lonely, little people, pictures with no subject, no story, everything tinted with a faint, pale feeling, " and at the same time, through the even application of paint to a large area, "against which the little head of the person swimming appears," forming in a kind of relatively subtle system of representation. Even so, behind the purification of style of subject matter, nevertheless lies the implication of the painter's larger scheme. "The knowledge of the swimmer is only partial, there is no torso; the human face is a part, which feels like a somewhat human yet inhuman, a kind of questioning within authenticity. This has something to do with how I feel about these times." Consequently, from "Water-Swimming," Zhang Jian set out to try to use the surface of the painting to "awaken the sensitivity in our eyes," hoping to assist in the use of a kind of "visual-affect," "an emphasis on the head, an enlargement of a beautiful part," the meaning of which is found in the awakening of human "sensory perception," and "memory," thereby exploring the ultimate truths of art-"authenticity."  From the original attention to "reality" to the interrogation of so-called "authenticity" through the present, undoubtedly highlight the deep transformation in Zhang Jian's creative work. Simultaneously, this can even more so be regarded as the process of a kind of artistic "solidification," related to the formation of the painter's artistic bent, the creation and establishment of standards of value, manner and style. The result is usually a step further in distinguishing himself from others, progressively structuring the personal quality of his work.

　　If one were to say that the "memories" and "perceptions" aroused by "Swimmers" are still a kind of  "personal obsession" with questions about "water, " then the "Tian'anmen series," involves the "public domain" even more deeply.  The objective is "the arousal of a kind of common memory." Obviously, the choice of "Tian'anmen" has a certain connection to the earlier paintings of "Shishahai," but "Tian'anmen" possesses much more complicated connotations. Concerning the use of the "common memories" of "Tian'anmen" formed by these connotations, on the one hand, there is the "collective character," and on the other, due to exceedingly rich "personal memories," these connotations are fraught with ambiguity.  Undoubtedly, Zhang Jian's works give full play to both of these aspects, and strive to bring them together to reciprocally complement one another. In "Chang'an Boulevard" (2000), the painter uses "Tian'anmen," Western Chang'an Boulevard, Tian'anmen Square, as descriptive counterparts, structuring a great scene that can arouse "common memory," and simultaneously, sedulously choose the Eastward visual angle, as well as the intimate wooded scenery created by a particular afternoon interval, emphasizing the so-called "expansion" of "common memory" set in motion gradually by  "individual, personal memory."

　　From "Swimmer" through "Tian'anmen," Zhang Jian's creation is no longer a kind of successive transformation of internal character, but rather is a kind of difference in target. Because the painter uses painting to around "memory," the next step is the examination of so-called "authenticity," conversely, generating a "new" "memory" through the simultaneous "enlargement" of "common memory." This is the description that makes the link between T.S. Elliot's consciousness of history in his studies of poetry and reality, "tradition possesses a great many things of significance, which contain a consciousness of history, and the consciousness of history contains a kind of comprehension. Not only must one know the nature of the past well, one must also understand the extant nature of the past. And it is just this kind of consciousness that gives a writer the most keen realization of his place in time, and relationship between self and the contemporary era."

　　Zhang Jian, having clarified the place of his own self in time, and the relationship between the self and the contemporary era," became even more capable of maintaining his position with resolve. "Of course, painting water is not really my objective, but rather I want to solve other problems this way. I think that through the observation of water, painting water can extend to a great many other things, oriented towards a more wide-ranging scope."  Since 2004, Zhang Jian's art has clearly entered a stage of "overflowing," based on the "core concept" of self, expanding the boundaries of its application, consequently, making artist's works appear extremely rich, and in a state of great prospects for advancement. In some of these pieces, Zhang Jian gradually uses the black and white surface to replace the colored surface, moving a step closer to severing the direct tie to life, and not suggesting any sort of connotations about life or associations, gradually moving toward a more rational contemplation. Recently completed works  in the "Tian'anmen series," conversely, draw on public images to remake the simultaneity of visual experience of contemporary society, moving a step closer to using images of the self to record the way of contemporary life, suggesting a method of social memory. Most worthy of mention are those pieces that "de-emphasize the subject of the painting, and emphasize momentary authenticity."  The content of these images are even meaningless, and so, Zhang Jian has also been drawn into using destructive, or sweeping irregular brushstrokes, to blur the clarity of what is depicted and its authenticity. Even so, the outcome nevertheless "leave a larger space for visual memory," unfolding an image with greater futurity.

作者：Zhao Li