Born in 1957 in Hangzhou, Zhang Peili graduated from Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now China Academy of Art) in 1984, where he now teaches. He is also the former executive director of OCAT Shanghai.

In 1985 and 1986, Zhang Peili organized and participated in the "'85 Xin Kong Jian" ('85 New Space) exhibition and artist collective "Chi She" （Pond Society）. His work "30x30" (1988) is considered the earliest video artwork in China. In 2003, he established the new media department at China Academy of Art and thus started the earliest new media art education in China.

Zhang Peili has participated in the Venice Biennale, la Biennale de Lyon, the Sydney Biennial, the Gwangju Biennial, the Busan Biennale, etc. Zhang has held solo exhibitions at Museum of Modern Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; and the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art, Gent. His works have been collected by prominent institutions such as Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Art Institute of Chicago; Asia Society; Singapore Art Museum; Queensland Art Gallery; M+ Museum, Hong Kong; Fukuoka Asian Art Museum; Centre national des arts plastiques; Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum; Daimler Art Collection; DSL Collection, K11 Art Foundation, and Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing.