1968  Born in Xiangtan, Hunan Province, China
1991  Graduated from Oil Painting Department, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Current: Lives and Works in Nanjing, China.

Solo Exhibitions
2012  Ethos, Mao Yan Works, Art Public, Geneva, Swiss
2011  Mao Yan Works on Paper, Hadrien de Montferrand Gallery, Beijing, China
2010  Mao Yan in Dufftown, 2010 Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Program, ShanghART H-Space, Shanghai, China
2009  Long for More – Mao Yan Solo Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2008  Mao Yan, China Today Gallery, Belgium
           Mao Yan, Hunan Provincial Museum, Changsha, China
2000  Maoyan, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong, China
1997  Maoyan, Pinge Art Guild, Nanjing, China
1992  The Drawing Works of Mao Yan, Nanjing Arts Institute, Nanjing, China

Group Exhibitions
2014  Skin’s Literary Form, He Duoling and Mao Yan 2014 Double Solo, Art Museum of Nanjing University of The Art, Nanjing, China
            Re-View, Opening Exhibition of Long Museum West Bund, Long Museum (West Bund), Shanghai, China
2013  The Garden of Diversion, Sifang Art Museum Inaugural Exhibition, Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, China
            Face to Face, Portraits and Interiors, Chinese-Dutch Painting Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2012  Culture Shanghai - A Return Oriented Towards the Future, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
　　　The Image Behind the Image – Jorg Immendorf & Mao Yan, Basail, Swiss
　　　In Time – 2012 Chinese Oil Painting Biennale, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
            Face, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2011  Growing Up, World Financial Center, Shanghai
　　　Collecting History – China New Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chengdu, China
2010  Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art 1979-2009, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
　　　Reshaping History - Chinart form 2000 to 2009, China National Convention Center, Beijing, China
2009  Phenomena and Situation Since 1985: Trends in Hubei and Hunan Chinese Contemporary Art 1985 – 2009, Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
           CHINAMANIA, Arken Museum of Modern Art, Brussels, Denmark
2008  Correspondence, Qinghe Art Museum, Nanjing; No.10 Art Space Airport, Chengdu, China
　　　China: Construct and Deconstruction, National Gallery of St. Paul, Brazil
　　　Academic and Un-academicⅡ, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
           Today’s China, Beivue Museum, Belgium
2007  China's Neo Painting, A Triumph Over Images, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
　　　Watching A Fire from the Other Side of the River, Ausstellungsort, Kassel, Germany
2006　Floweriness, Songzhuang Art Museum, Beijing, China
　　　Initial Image 2006, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
2004  Shaping, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
2003  New Painting 2003, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
            The Deferent Same, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
2002  The Exhibition of Contemporary Artists, Schoeni Art Gallery, Beijing, China
            On The Edge of The Millennium - New Art From China, Goedhuis Contemporary, New York, USA
            Pairs-Beijing, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris, France
2001  Towards a New Image: Twenty Years of Contemporary Chinese Painting, China National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing; Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; Sichuan Art Museum, Chengdu; Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
            Academic and Un-academic, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
            Poster Exhibition of Chinese Avent-garde, Beijing; Shanghai; Chengdu; Guangzhou, China; Tokyo, Japan; Paris, France
            ABBILD, Landes Art Museum, Austria
2000  Gate of the Century:1979-1999 the Exhibition of Chinese Art, Chengdu Modern Art Museum, Chengdu, China
           Chinese Oil Painting in 20th Century, China National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing; Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
            Magical Image, Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China
1999  1999 China Art, LIMN Gallery, San Francisco, USA
           The First Collection Exhibition of Dong Yu Art Museum, Dong Yu Art Museum, Shenyang, China
1998  East Meets East in the West, LIMN Gallery, San Francisco, USA
           The First Exhibition of Upriver Gallery's Collection, Upriver Gallery, Chengdu, China
           The Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Artists, Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China
1997  The Portrait of Chinese Oil Painting in the Last 100 Years, China National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
1996-1997  The First Academic Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art, China National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing; Hongkong Art Center, Hongkong, China
1996  96' Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, China
           The First Exhibition of Chinese Oil Painting Association, China National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing, Beijing, China
1995  Chinese Contemporary Oil Painting, Kubo Art Celebration, New York, Overseas Modern Newspaper Art Museum, Los Angeles, USA
1994  The Second Annual China Oil Painting Exhibition, China National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
           The Annual Exhibition of Works of the Artists Nominated by Art Critics, China National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
            The Situation of Chinese Oil Painting, Feng Ping Shan Museum, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
            Chinese Modern Oil Painting, Chinese-Japanese Friendship Guild Hall Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
1993  The Second Annual China Oil Painting Exhibition, China National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
1992  The First Guangzhou Biennale of Art in the 90’s, Exhibition Hall of the Center Hotel, Guangzhou, China