Born in 1974 in Hunan, Tao Aimin currently lives and works in Beijing.
Tao Aimin’s work employs an anthropological perspective and aims to explore the personal histories and daily lives of women in rural China, giving voice to the unexpressed and undocumented experiences on the verge of being forgotten. Tao works across media often combining found objects, with calligraphy and painting, moving fluently between the languages of traditional and contemporary art, and elite and popular cultures.
Tao Aimin graduated from the Fine Arts Department of National Huaqiao University, Fujian in 1999, where she studied ink painting. She completed the teaching assistant course in the Mural Painting Department of Beijing’s prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2001.
She has previously exhibited in World Art Museum of China Millennium Monument (2005, 2006, 2011), National Art Museum of China (2009), Today Art Museum (2008, 2010), Sakshi Gallery, Taipei (2009), Ink Studio (2014, 2019) and Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong (2021). Most recently, her work has been included in ‘Stepping Out: Female Identities in Contemporary Chinese Art’ at the Lillehammer Museum, Norway (2022), GL Strand Copenhagen, Denmark (2022/2023) and Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria (2023).
Interview Trailer | Dr Luise Guest and Dr Geoff Raby AO
Trailer | Hidden Letters
Women's River, 2015
Half the Sky: Women Artists in Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art by Dr Luise Guest
Performance | Women's River
CV
| 1999 | Huaqiao University, Quanzhou, China |
| 2001 | Graduated from Assistant Lecturer Training class in Mural Painting Department, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China |
| 2023 | Her Secret Code: Tao Aimin and Nüshu, Vermilion Art, Sydney, Australia |
| 2010 | Riverbed, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China Through Woman’s Fingers, Cocolan Art Center, Beijing, China |
| 2006 | A Woman’s Long March: Device, Video and Photography Exhibition, Long March Space, Beijing, China |
| 2001 | Solo Exhibition, Corridor Gallery in Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China |
| 2023 | Stepping Out! Female Identities in Chinese Contemporary, Kunstforeningen GI Stand, Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Stepping Out! Female Identities in Chinese Contemporary, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria | |
| 2022 | Stepping Out! Female Identities in Chinese Contemporary, Lillehammer Art Museum, Lillehammer, Norway |
| 2021 | Ink City, Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong, China |
| Diversified Expressions—Contemporary Chinese Ink Art, Daqian Gallery, Beijing, China | |
| Zheng Mo-Contemporary Ink Painting Exhibition, Artron Art Center, Shenzhen, China | |
| Scars and Annual Rings, Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin, Germany | |
| 2019 | Undersong: Secrets, Dreams, Truths, and Power, INK studio, Beijing, China |
| Native Arts—International Contemporary Female Artist Online Biennale, Hebei Female Artists Association/Hebei Oil Painting Association/China Art Association (Taiwan, China)/International Association for the Study of Art, France | |
| 2015 | Naturally Women: An All-female Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, KIP International School Pavilion of Milan EXPO, Milan, Italia |
| Innovatively Transformed Folk Art, 2015 Beijing 798 Art Festival, Beijing, China | |
| “Promotion Exhibition” Theme Display, Dashanzi Art District, Beijing, China | |
| Burst into Bloom, The First Session of Chinese Contemporary Women Artists Exhibition, Chengdu, China | |
| 2014 | Ink and the Body, INK studio, Beijing, China |
| 2013 | Colour Temperature: Exchange Exhibition of 27 of China’s Finest Young Artists, Osman Hamdi Bey Hall, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul, Turkey |
| The Second Chinese Female Artists Exhibition, The Chinese Museum of Women and Children, Beijing, China | |
| 2012 | We Are Young, Yunmen Yaji Art Museum, Beijing, China Luan Feng Qi Ming: Female Artists Exhibition, Tree Museum, Beijing, China |
| 2011 | Existence without Immortality: Modern Female Artists Exhibition Series, China Millennium Monument Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China |
| Half the Sky: Women in the New Art of China, Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Drexel University, Philadelphia, U.S.A. | |
| 2010 | Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao Cotton Mill Factory, Pingyao, China Artistic Impression of Chinese, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China |
| Chinese Women Art Exhibition, The Chinese Museum of Women and Children, Beijing, China | |
| The Possibility of Uncertainty—798 and the Surrounding Community Youth Art Exhibition, Songzhuang Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| 2009 | Ink Cutting-Edge 2009, The Wenjin International Art Center, Beijing, China |
| Counterparts: Chinese & Germany Contemporary Art Exhibition, Wuhan Art Museum, Wuhan, China | |
| First Chongqing Biennale for the Young Artists, CQ International Convention & Exhibition Center, Chongqing, China | |
| China Narratives: the Fourth Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu Century City New International Convention and Exhibition Center, Chengdu, China | |
| The Tradition of the New: Emerging Artists Group Exhibition, Sakshi Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| Describe · Speak: 2009 Cross-Strait Contemporary Art, National Art Museum of China, Beijing; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art, Taichung, Taiwan | |
| In the Mood for Paper, F2 Gallery, Beijing, China | |
| Nu Yishu—Series IV-Nu Red, Imagine Gallery, Beijing, China | |
| 2008 | Future Sky—Chinese Young Contemporary Artist works Selection Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China |
| Ink Cutting-Edge 2008, 798 Art Bridge Gallery, Beijing, China In Progress Now—2008 · Let Nanjing Fly, Phoenix Art Museum, Nanjing, China |
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| Ink Not Ink: Chinese Contemporary Ink Painting Invitation Exhibition, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China; Today Art Museum, Beijing, China; Bossone Research Center, Drexel University, Philadelphia, U.S.A. | |
| Multiple Realities, F2 Gallery, Beijing, China | |
| Female on the Way, Mozen Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| Long March Capital-Visual Economy, Long March Space, Beijing, China | |
| Chinese Contemporary Art Document Exhibition, Wall Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| 2007 | Transfigurations, Sepia International Gallery, New York, U.S.A. |
| Ink Cutting-Edge 2007, Yanhuang Art Museum, Beijing, China SHE, 3818 Cool Gallery, Beijing, China |
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| China under Construction: Contemporary Art from the People’s Republic, Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, U.S.A. | |
| Female Artists Show, Yanh Huang Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| Central Railway International Art Exhibition, Central Railway Art Camp, Beijing, China | |
| 2006 | Chinese Contemporary Art Document Exhibition, China Millennium Monument Museum, Beijing, China |
| 2005 | Chinese Character Art Exhibition, Beijing World Art Museum of China Millennium Monument, Beijing, China |
| Temperature: International Celebration of Andersen’s 200th Birthday Anniversary — Chinese Contemporary Art Invitational Exhibition, Beijing World Art Museum of China Millennium Monument, Beijing, China | |
| North Jutland Art Museum, Aalborg, Denmark | |
| 2002 | Seven Day Landscape, Art Museum of Beijing International Art Center, Beijing, China |
| The Chinese Museum of Women and Children, Beijing, China | |
| Chengdu Modern Art Museum, Chengdu, China | |
| Long March Space, Beijing, China | |
| Yan Huang Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| Fine Arts Literature Magazine, Wuhan, China | |
| Fiake- Förderung des internationalen Austausches für Künste und Erziehung e. V., Germany | |
| Garage Collection, Lucerne, Switzerland |
| 2016 | River of Women nominated ’30 Works for 30 Years’ for the most influential installation work over the past thirty years in China |
| 2009 | Nominated Artist of the Year in installation and multimedia by Art China |
| 2008 | Xiao Shufang Arts Award nomination, Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Arts |
| 2006 | Newcomer Award of 2006 Chinese Contemporary Art Document Exhibition, The China Millennium Monument |
