Wu Jian'an was born in Beijing in 1980. In 2002, he graduated from the Beijing Broadcasting Institute with a bachelor's degree in Advertising. In 2005, he graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts with a master's degree in Experimental Art and has been teaching there ever since.

Through his early training in advertising, folk art, and experimental art at the academy, Wu Jian’an gradually developed a distinctive artistic path in his subsequent practice. Through the generative use of a contemporary visual language that moves freely across traditions, he constructs a visual system that mediates between Eastern and Western aesthetics. Often drawing on situations that appear far removed from contemporary life, Wu reflects on enduring aspects of nature, animals, and the long history of human civilization, reaching toward the subtle yet profound layers of the human subconscious and prompting reflection on the spiritual condition of both the present age and humanity itself.

His practice unfolds along multiple trajectories simultaneously, exploring transformations and intersections between past and present, as well as between the individual and the collective, across conceptual, narrative, and formal dimensions. Wu works with a wide range of materials and techniques—including paper, wax, metal, cotton thread, leather, ink, feathers, and glass—and is known for his remarkable handcrafted production. Through intricate and highly complex visual structures, he creates monumental installations that generate an immersive and often enigmatic visual experience.Simultaneously, Wu Jian'an's creations are driven by a continuous innovation in visual methods, preserving the unique sharpness and appeal of his works while integrating narrative into his artistic language. He remains committed to constructing and expressing a distinctive worldview and persistently exploring the fundamental principles of human vision and craftsmanship.

His Daydream series (2003 - ongoing) encompasses various forms, including Xuan paper engraving and brass. Through exquisite lines and engraving techniques, this series attempts to express real-life crises via abstract individual spiritual experiences. Works such as The Heaven of Nine Levels (2009-2011),Omens series (2016 - ongoing), the Masks series (2018 - ongoing), and the Invisible Faces series (2019 - ongoing) explore various materials, including recycled leather, simulated specimens, metal, and glass. These pieces are centered around ancient myths, historical stories, and classic texts from both Eastern and Western traditions. They reflect the artist's profound interest in animals, great nature, and organic materials. Through imaginative collaboration with traditional craft experts, Wu Jian'an promotes the revival and innovation of traditional techniques and concepts. His Seven Layered Shell (2011-2012) and Incarnation series (2015 - ongoing) includes 186 kinds of figures inspired by ancient Chinese geographic literature "Shan Hai Jing," slang visualizations, elements from Christian, Buddhist, and Indian mythology, graffiti, cartoons, and more. These works, consisting of iconic wax-infused paper-cut collages, gradually expand into a complex and uniquely creative system of thinking and expression.

Wu Jian’an focuses on exploring the connections between art, the individual, and the collective in his practice. Originating from his 2016 public art projects Liberating the Monkey King and Mandala, commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the 500 Brushstrokes series (2016 - ongoing) is grounded in Chinese xuan paper and ink, while also incorporating paper-cutting and collage. Independent brushstroke-cut units are assembled and organized within a larger blank space, creating new visual and conceptual structures.

The 500 Brushstrokes series has evolved along two directions. The first, developed in the studio, involves experimental explorations of “abstraction” and “dynamic movement” through the fusion of ink and paper-cutting, painting and collage. The second unfolds through visits to different countries and regions, where Wu invites local communities and individuals to participate in brushstroke-collecting workshops. These workshops encourage spontaneous expression and create unique opportunities for participants to view themselves and others anew. Through Wu’s collaging of these brushstrokes into monumental paintings and spatial works—alongside interviews and documentary filmmaking—the project encourages spontaneous individual expression, which the artist then gathers and assembles into large-scale collaborative works. Presented across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, the project has become a distinctive practice of cross-cultural exchange and collective portraiture.

The 500 Brushstrokes site-specific public art project has now expanded to Echigo-Tsumari, Japan (2018); Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China (2022); the Inuit community of Pangnirtung, Canada (2022, 2023); the Mekong–Lancang River Basin (2023); Nanhai, Guangdong, China (2023); and Peru (2024), generating wide attention and positive impact. For example, following the successful completion of the 500 Brushstrokes for Peru project, the Asociación Peruano China (APCH) in 2024 unveiled a commemorative brick inscribed with Wu Jian’an’s name in Lima’s Chinatown. In 2025, the Province of Cusco, a World Cultural Heritage city, awarded him the “Cusco City Medal” in recognition of his contributions to fostering cultural dialogue between China and Peru.

To date, Wu Jian’an’s works have been presented in nearly 300 exhibitions worldwide, and has held solo exhibitions at renowned institutions across Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.Major solo exhibitions in recent years include A Bridge Between Two Worlds: Works by Wu Jian’an, at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts in USA (2023), 500 Brushstrokes: An Abstract Portrait, was presented at the Museo de Arte de Lima in Peru (2025), as well as the forthcoming solo exhibition Wu Jian’an: Metamorphoses at the Museo Nazionale Romano – Terme di Diocleziano in Rome, Italy (2026). In 2017, his work represented China at the 57th Venice Biennale.

His representative exhibition projects also include: Shifting Fields: Contemporary Chinese Painting (Group Exhibition / Stanford University, California, USA, 2024),Art at Qiaoshan—Guangdong Nanhai Earth Art Festival 2024 (Group Exhibition / Pingsha Island, Huanggang Village, Foshan, China, 2024), Bridges Between Two Worlds: Works by Wu Jian’an (Solo Exhibition / Kalamazoo Art Center, Michigan, USA, 2024) , Crossing Boundaries: Possibilities and Echoes (Group Exhibition / Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China, 2023), From Xu Beihong’s Guizhou Handmade Paper to New Chinese Art Experiences (Group Exhibition / National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China, 2023), The Moment of Thought: Xing Art Museum Opening Exhibition (Xing Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2023), Lines of Thought: Gestural Abstraction in the BAMPFA Collection (Group Exhibition / Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, USA, 2022), Leap: Vital Energy—14th Dakar Biennale of Contemporary African Art (Group Exhibition / Museum of Black Civilizations, Dakar, Senegal, 2022), Wu Jian’an: The Huge Sand Dunes are the Bed of the Sea (Solo Exhibition / Xinyi Art Museum, Hebei, China, 2021), SUPER FUSION: 2021 Chengdu Biennale (Group Exhibition / Tianfu Art Museum, Chengdu, China, 2021), Glasstress: Window to the Future (Group Exhibition / State Hermitage KAIWU: Art et design en Chine (Musée de l’Hospice Comtesse, France, 2021), The Endless Life—the Narrative of the Yellow River (The Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, China, 2020), Art and Archaeology (Naples National Archaeological Museum, Italy, 2019), Serpenti Form (Art Science Museum, Singapore, Singapore; Mori Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan，2017-2019), The 7th Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial (Echigo-Tsumari, Japan, 2018), Generation by Generation: The 57th Venice Biennale China Pavilion (Venice, Italy, 2017), Brazil Curitiba Biennale 2017: Pulse – Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition (Group Exhibition / Oscar Niemeyer Museum, Curitiba, Brazil, 2017), The Carolyn Hsu and René Balcer Collection: Exploring Three Decades of Contemporary Chinese Art (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA, 2015), etc.

Wu Jian’an’s representative works have entered the collections of major institutions including The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, USA), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles, USA),Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University (Ithaca,USA),The White Rabbit Gallery (New South Wales, Australia),Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (Fukuoka, Japan),Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley, USA), Fidelity International Art Collection (Luxembourg, USA), Kalamazoo Institute of Art (Michigan, USA), Guangdong Art Museum (Guangzhou, China), Beijing Minsheng Art Museum (Beijing, China), the Pucheng Museum/Fan Di’an Art Museum (Pucheng, China), Start Art Museum (Shanghai, China) ,Central Academy of Fine Art Museum (Beijing, China), Epoch Art Museum (Wenzhou, China), the Gulangyu Contemporary Art Center (Gulangyu, China) , the Pingshan Art Museum(Shenzhen, China), Ennova Art Museum(Langfang, China), Lal Lal Art Museum (Melbourne, Australia), Oscar Niemeyer Museum (Curitiba, Brazil), Committee of Cheongju International Craft Biennal (Cheongju, Korea), among others. His works are also collected by institutions, corporations, and foundations such as Tsinghua University (Beijing, China), Guardian Art Center (Beijing, China), Meta Media Group (Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, China), Chenyidan Charity Foundation (Shenzhen, China), Bridging Hope Charity Foundation, Beijing (Beijing, China), HSBC Jade Center (Beijing, China), 21C Museum Hotel (Kentucky, USA), as well as by private collectors.

The artist has also received numerous awards recognizing both his artistic innovation and his contributions to international cultural exchange, as an example, A commemorative brick inscribed with Wu Jian’an’s name in Lima’s Chinatown.(Asociación Peruano China, APCH, 2024). These awards also include: “Cusco City Medal” (Cusco Province, 2025), “Breakthrough Artist of the Year 2024” (Bazaar Art), “2024 SABF Artist of the Year” (Guangxi Normal University Press, ACC Art Books in London, Australia Images Publishing Group), “Best Award in Architecture/Interior/Environmental Design Category, Exhibition Design – Museum Exhibition Gold Cube” (New York ADC Awards, 2024) , “Forbes China Contemporary Young Artists Influence List 2023" (Forbes China), “2022 Asian Cultural Council Annual Art Grant” (Asian Cultural Council), "Fashion Style Artist of the Year 2021” (Figaro), “2020 Best of the Best Artist of the Year” (Robb Report), “40 Under 40 Artists List 2018” (Perspective), “Young Power of the Year 2017” (Southern People Weekly), “8th Global Chinese Golden Star Award – Core Strength of the Year” (National Art). He respectively in 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024, a tracking study was conducted for the annual 'Contemporary Chinese Art Yearbook' (hosted by Peking University’s China Modern Art Archive, aka CMAA, and the Wu Zuoren International Art Foundation).

In 2019, he was selected for CCTV's Documentary Channel production, “The Innovation of China", which was also his first personal documentary. That same year, Google Arts & Culture launched a special online exhibition on him titled “Connecting Tradition and Future:Cultural Tradition Transformation and Innovation in the Art of Wu Jian’an”。