ZHONG CHENG

John Way, born in Shanghai, China, had his artwork displayed in Shanghai galleries as early as 1937. Starting from 1951, he was consistently selected for the Hong Kong Art Society Annual Exhibition for five consecutive years. In 1956, he moved to the United States. John Way's artwork infused the energy of Chinese calligraphy into the forms of modern art, establishing him as one of the earliest contemporary Chinese artists to delve into abstract painting.

From 1960 onwards, he organized various exhibitions in Boston, including solo exhibitions at the Nave Gallery in 1960 and the Massachusetts College of Art in 1968. In 1965, he participated in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts exhibition titled "Artists of the New Asian Calligraphy" alongside international contemporary masters such as Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock. In 1985, he was selected for the "Salon International des Beaux-Arts" in France. In 1998, he was honored with the title of Honorary Professor by the Italian Academy of Arts, and in 2000, his artwork was featured on Swiss postage stamps. In 2001, a retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Shanghai Art Museum.

John Way's artwork is part of the collections of institutions like the Stanford University Art Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

Recent exhibitions include "Wild Cursive Abstraction: John Way Solo Exhibition" (2014, Taipei, William Art), "Art Paris Art Fair: Pioneers of Chinese Abstract Painting 1955-1970" exhibition (2015, Paris, Grand Palais, Booth C22), "The Dignity of Humility: John Way's Collection Exhibition" (2017, Taipei, William Art), and "Inheriting Tradition: A Special Exhibition on East Asian Calligraphy" (2022, Taoyuan, Hengshan Calligraphy Art Museum).