趙剛對於70至80年代的中國早期現代藝術有著極大的貢獻與深遠的影響。他的藝術生涯啟蒙於在18歲時加入的星星畫會，隨後在歐洲與紐約攻讀藝術，並在海外生活、創作超過20年。在2007年回到中國北京後，趙剛的創作專注在了私人歷史與中國歷史的關係上，將西方意識形態與自身文化根源相互融合。趙剛的繪畫筆觸粗糙、直接、充滿視覺張力，並時常以文化中的內在圖像為主軸，發掘人、事、物潛在的意義與歷史脈絡。在趙剛長年旅外生涯中，曾經當過金融家，並創辦了《ArtAsiaPacific》雜誌。2007年返回中國後，他延續在紐約進行的繪畫實踐，從私人的角度描畫了對於新中國的想像。藝術家圍繞自身的生命歷程，延伸到歷史，質疑當下，並汲取了情色、革命、詩歌、歷史人物、傳統水墨畫和中國文化的元素，並投入到繪畫中 。趙剛挑戰了認知中不可動搖的歷史，也包括了對繪畫本身的思索。趙剛現生活與創作於紐約、北京、台北。重要的美術館展覽有：《天下無事》，龍美術館重慶館，重慶，中國(2022)；《趙剛：主夫的焦慮》，龍美術館，上海，中國 （2021）；《通往奴役之路 II》，聖地亞哥當代美術館，聖地亞哥，智利（2016）。重要聯展有：《個體．源流．表現》，M+博物館，香港，中國（2023）；《緩步徐行：龍美術館十週年特展》，上海，中國（2023）；《1989後的藝術與中國：世界劇場》所羅門．R．古根漢美術館，紐約（2017）。重要雙、三年參展則有：2008年「廣州雙年展」、2007年紐約「PERFPRMA雙年展」、2005年「橫濱三年展」。
Known for blending Eastern and Western influences in his semi-representational figurations and landscapes, Zhao Gang seamlessly introduces sensibilities from both worlds into his paintings. Zhao’s work is aesthetically striking and both art historically and intellectually rooted. His paintings seek to capture the social fabric of post-socialism with the self-consciousness of an outsider. Zhao was a member of the controversial, avant-garde Stars Group that exhibited in Beijing in the 1970s, when the artist was just a teenager. In the course of a life as a wanderer, Zhao has been an artist, financier, and publisher of ArtAsiaPacific. He left China early in search of the wider world: in 1983 he moved to the West, and didn’t come back until 2007. Since his return, he has been building a distinctive hybrid practice of painterly meditation on the Chinese past. The artist continued his practice towards the more personal, one that revolved around his specific identity, but that stretched back towards history to question the present, drawing from erotica, revolution, poetry, traditional ink painting, Chinese culture’s past. In this way, through the personal, Zhao depicts a new Chinese imaginary, explored through painting, about painting, and about himself. Zhao Gang currently lives and works in New York, Beijing, and Taipei. His selected museum solo exhibitions include: “Nothing is Happening,” Long Museum Chong Qing, Chongqing, China (2022), “Zhao Gang: Domestic Anxiety,” Long Museum, Shanghai, China (2021), The Road to Serfdom II, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Santiago, Chile (2016). His selected group exhibitions include: Individuals, Networks, Expressions, M Plus Museum, Hong Kong, China (2023); A Leisurely Stroll: The Tenth Anniversary of the Long Museum, Long Museum, Shanghai, China (2023); “Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World,” Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, USA (2017). He participated in important biennial/triennial exhibitions such as Guangzhou Triennial, 2008; PERFORMA 07, New York; and Yokohama Triennial, 2005.