when he was 25, chen was diagnosed with autoimmune hemolytic anemia and was told he might have only five years to live. as china loosened travel restrictions in the 1980s, he left shanghai in 1986 for paris, france, where he studied art at the école nationale supérieure des beaux-arts and the institut des hautes études en arts plastiques (iheap). he supported himself by drawing portraits on the street. from 1993 to 1995 chen was a professor at iheap in paris, and from 1995 to 1999 he taught at the école nationale des beaux-arts in nancy.