XU ZHONGMIN

Xu Zhongmin.
Photo: © Jonathan Greet, 2019.
Xu Zhongmin, The Net, 2004. Silver Leaf on Wood Panels, 45.5 x 66.5 cm.


In his earlier work, Xu Zhongmin uses the traditional technique of Chinese woodblock printing with delicately incised lines chiselled in to ‘pear wood’ blocks. The lines bring to life a series of towering cityscapes, stylised and distorted, but stamped with a range of individual atmospheres passing from bustling movement to quiet serenity. His most recent works are inspired by both the architect Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome and the recurring patterns that pervade Tibetan Buddhist iconography. The intricate sculptures contain stainless-steel egg-planets circling silver skeletons and babies on a repetitive furious march to nowhere.

After graduating from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Xu Zhongmin chaired the Ba Di Cao Arts Society. That same year he moved to Beijing and in 1992 he moved to England where he lived and worked for many years until returning to China. He first showed with October Gallery in 1995, and most recently in 2019, as part of the group exhibition Present Moment. His work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany; White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia; Singapore Art Museum, Singapore; National Museum Of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea; Today Art Museum, Beijing; MOCA, Shanghai; Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China; Contemporary Art Center, Osaka, Japan; the Royal Academy of Arts, London UK; the British Museum, London, UK; and Taipei MOCA, Taipei, Taiwan.

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View below for career highlights and works for sale by the artist.

 

SELECTED WORKS


Xu ZhongminXZ001
The Net, 2004.


 

XU ZHONGMIN

Born in 1961, Sichuan Province, China. Lives and works between London, UK and Beijing, China.
Solo Exhibitions
2018   Hybridizations: The Ghost of Painting, White Box Art Center, Beijing, China
2016   Xu Zhongmin Solo Exhibition, White Box Art Center, Beijing, China
2011   Xu Zhongmin’s Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2005   Woodcarving and Installation, Albemarle Gallery, London, UK
2002   City of Dreams, Gallery Art U, Osaka, Japan
2001   Tidal Wave, October Gallery, London, UK 
1995  BCI Fine Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa 
  October Gallery, London, UK
1995  Blunden Oriental at The Gallery, Alan Baxter & Associates, London, UK
1994  Cité Internationale, Paris, France
1994  Galerie Marie-Therése Cochin, Paris, France
1993  Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham, UK
1986  One Eye, Sichuan Fine Art Academy, Sichaun, China


Group Exhibitions
2019    Dream No Small Dream: Celebrating 40 Years of the Transvangarde, October Gallery, London, UK
Present Moment, October Gallery, London, UK
2018    Media Conversion, Cheng Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
2017    Rip It Up!, The 2nd Changjiang International Photography and Video Biennale, Changjiang Museum of Contemporary Art, Chongqing, China
2016    The Archer of Autumn Grove Crossing, Blue Mountain Contemporary Art at Wenyu River, Beijing, China
2014    Fusion/Convergence, T Museum, Hangzhou, China
STARTING FROM HERE  , International Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Ceramic Art, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China 
2013   Enlightened Nature, Amy Li Gallery, Beijing, China
2012   Open Sky, Changjiang Museum of Contemporary Art, Chongqing, China
Whatever You Want: New Media Show, Kara Kitchen, Beijing, China
Quiet Energy, Dialogue Space, Beijing, China 
2010    Reshaping History: Chinart from 2000 to 2009, China National Convention Center, Beijing, China
Nanjing Biennale: And_Writers, Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum, Nanjing, China 
2009    The Outsider, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy
An Exhibition of Contemporary Art, White Box Art Center, Beijing, China 
2008    Synthetic Times: Media Art China 2008, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
The Borders of Utopia, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
China Gold, Museum Maillol, Paris, France Empty, Marella Gallery, Beijing, China 
2007   Post Avant-Garde Chinese Contemporary Art: Four Directions of the New Era, Atting House, Hong Kong
Thermocline of Art: New Asian Waves, ZKM | Museum of Contemporary Art, Karlsruhe, Germany
Floating: New Generation of Art in China, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea 
2006   Double-kick cracker: An exhibition of Chinese contemporary art, Tang Contemporary Art, Bejing, China
This Is For Real - Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Shanghai, China
China Coup, The Red Mansion Foundation at The Hospital, London, UK 
2005   Convergence at E116° /N40 °, Beijing 2005,  International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Bejing, China
Shanghai Cool: Creative Reproduction, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China 
2004   Is It Art?, Noanoa Center and Shanxi Provincial Art Museum, Xi’an, China
2003   Chinese Printmaking Today: Woodblock Printing in China, British Library, London
2002   Contemporary Art Centre, Osaka Media City, Artist Commune (Cattle Depot Artist Village), Hong Kong
Dream 02: Contemporary Chinese Art, gallery@oxo, London, UK 
2001   Dream 2001: Contemporary Art Exhibition, Atlantis Gallery, London, UK Youth In Transition,Exhibition of Chinese, German and British young artists, He Xiangning Art Gallery, Shengzhen, China 
2000  The Royal College of Art Gallery, London, UK
1999  Well Hung Gallery, London, UK
1998  The International Triennial - 1998 Sculpture, Osaka, Japan
1998  The Royal College of Art Gallery, London, UK
  Newport Museum & Art Gallery, Newport, UK
1998  Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan
1997  The 8th International Biennial Print & Drawing Exhibition, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taiwan
1997  The International Triennale - 1997 Printmaking, Osaka, Japan
1997  Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
1997  Redfern Gallery, London, UK
1997  Watermans Arts Centre, London, UK
1996  Barn, Sichuan, China
1996  The British Museum, London, UK
1996  The Mall Gallery, London, UK
1995  Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan
1994  The International Triennale - 1994 Printmaking, Osaka, Japan
1994  The Royal College of Art Gallery, London, UK
1993  The International Triennial Competition - 1993 Painting, Osaka, Japan
1993  The Second Sapporo International Print Biennale, Sapporo, Japan
1993  Manchester Academy Annual Exhibition, Manchester, UK
1992  Central Fine Art Academy Gallery, Beijing, China
  China International Art Gallery, Beijing, China
  Dusseldorf, Germany
1989  Seventh National Art Exhibition, Beijing, China
1989  Chengdu, China
1989  Japan Economic Cultural Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
1988  China National Fine Art Gallery, Beijing, China
1984  Sichuan Fine Art Academy Exhibition, China National Fine Art Gallery, Beijing, China

Awards
1998  The Sponsor's Prize, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Japan
1997  The Guinness Prize for the Best First-Time Exhibitor, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
1996  The First Prize, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Japan
1995  The Pollock- Krasner Foundation Award, New York, USA
1994  The Sakai City Prize, Osaka, Japan
1989  Sichuan Art Exhibition: Award of Excellence, Chendu, China
1989  Printmaking Exhibition to Commemorate Lu Xun. Award of Excellence, Chengdu, China
Public Collections
Boehringer/Ingelheim Art Collection, Berkshire, UK
The Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan
Clifford Chance Art Collection, London
The Guinness Art Collection, Guinness PLC, London
The Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan
The Centre of Contemporary Arts & Culture, Osaka, Japan
October Gallery, London
The Centre of Contemporary Arts & Culture, Osaka, Japan
The British Museum, UK
The Sichuan Fine Art Academy Gallery, China
    

OCTOBER GALLERY ARTISTS