XU ZHEN
Biography
Xu Zhen was born in 1977, and lives and works in Shanghai.Xu Zhen has been considered as an iconic figure in Chinese contemporary art. In 2004, Xu won the prize for ‘Best Artist’ at the China Contemporary Art Award. His practice covers various media such as installations, video, painting and performance, etc.
Xu Zhen has exhibited internationally, at museums and biennales, such as, Venice Biennale (2001, 2005), The Museum of Modern Art (New York, 2004), Mori Art Museum (Tokyo, 2005), MoMA PS1 (New York, 2006), Tate Liverpool (2007), Hayward Gallery (London, 2012), Lyon Biennial (2013), Armory Show (New York, 2014), Long Museum (Shanghai 2015), Al Riwaq Art Center (Qatar, 2016), Sydney Biennial (2016), Guggenheim Museum (New York, 2017), Sharjah Biennial (2019), Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, 2019), National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, 2020), among others.
He co-curated together with other artists major exhibitions in Shanghai and was one of the initiators of Art-Ba-Ba (www.art-ba-ba.com), a leading online forum for discussion and critique of contemporary art in Shanghai, in 2006. In 2009, Xu Zhen established ‘MadeIn Company’, a contemporary art creation corporate, focused on the production of creativity, and devoted to the research of contemporary culture’s infinite possibilities.
Xu Zhen currently lives and works in Shanghai, China.
Xu Zhen, Under Heaven – 3228EI0146, 2014. Oil on canvas aluminium – 100 × 75 x 14 cm
(Courtesy of co-founder & collector Maxime Bureau)