Xiao Lu (b.1962, Hangzhou, China) currently lives and works between Sydney and Beijing. She is a graduate of the Subsidiary School of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing and Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (China Academy of Art), Hangzhou. Best known for raising a gun and shooting at her work in the National Art Museum of China in 1989, thus precipitating the closing down of the show by the government, and her brief arrest, Xiao is considered one of China’s most influential and provocative female artists. Though Xiao operates across a range of media, her work is grounded in performance art. Xiao sees performance art as a way of releasing internal conflict and negative emotions such as anger and hatred. As such, her artworks are often very personal explorations of concerns regarding gender power dynamics, communication, and the precariousness of life in the face of both social and natural forces.
Xiao Lu’s work has been included in important international exhibitions, including Tate, London; Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and 4A Center of Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney. Her work has been collected by public and private institutions, including the Tate, London; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Taikang Insurance Group Art Collection, Beijing; and White Rabbit Collection, Sydney.
CV
| 1962 | Born in Hangzhou, China |
| 1974-1984 | Studied in the Subsidiary School of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China |
| 1984-1988 | Studied in the Oil Painting Department of Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China |
| 1988-1989 | Work at Shanghai Oil Painting and Sculpture Institute |
| 1989-1997 | Live in Sydney, Australia |
| 1997-2003 | Live in Hangzhou, China |
| 2003 | Live and create work in Beijing, China |
| 2018 | ”Studio Project: COIL” Xiao Lu Studio, T3 International Art District, Beijing |
| 2017 | “Xiao Lu ” SKovde Art Museum, Sweden |
| 2016 | “Money Laundry → Anti – Money Laundry” Hosane Space, Shanghai, China |
| 2006 | “Open Fire” Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York, USA |
| 2018 | “Art and China After 1989: Theatre of the World” Guggenheim Museums, Bilbao, Spain |
| “Sworn Sisters”, Vermilion Art, Sydney, Australia | |
| “The Fuck off Generation” Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York, USA | |
| 2017 | “15-Artists Art Exhibition of Zhejiang Academy of Art” Ding Yuan International Arts Center, Beijing |
| “In the Mood for Love” Poly Culture Art center, Vancouver, Canada | |
| “Art and China After 1989: Theater of the World” Guggenheim Museums, NY, USA | |
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“The Exhibition of Annual of Contemporary Art of China 2016” Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, JiangSu Contemporary Art Museum, Art Museum of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute
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| “Venice Live 4” Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy | |
| ”Vioences XX-Elles” Union des Artistes d’Asie en France, Paris, France | |
| 2016 | “Feminine Power: New Perspective” Daqian Contemporary Art Centre, Beijing, China |
| “Rising East: Classic Paintings from the Republican Period” Zhongshan Exhibition Center, Guangzhou, China | |
| “Wen Pulin Archive of Chinese Avant-Garde Art” Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| “Thirty Years of Body and Performance Happening Project” Beijing Minsheng Art Museum | |
| “Singapore Biennale 2016 – An Atlas of Mirrors” MoCA, Singapore | |
| “Parabiosis – Interational Contemporary Art Exhibition 2016” Changjiang Contemporary Art Museum, Chongqing. China | |
| ”Beijing Live 一 ” Denmark Cultural Centre, Beijing, China | |
| “Arctic Action” Pyramiden, Longyerabyen, Svalbard, Norway | |
| “She” Long Art Museum”, Shanghai, China | |
| “Beijing 798 Genesis ( 2002-2006)” Song Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| “Half the Sky: An Exhibition and book launch” Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China | |
| “Xi Shan Yin” Qiao House Gallery, Beijing, China | |
| “Phoenix Satellite Television’s 20th Anniversary-An Exhibition of Phoenix” Phoenix Satellite Television, Beijing, China | |
| “Hesitation: The artist collection exhibition” CAFA Interational, Beijing, China | |
| “international Female Visual Arts exhibition (Xian), DAHUA.1935, Xian, China | |
| “Vulnerability: Art and Human Rights in China and the EU” EU delegation to China, Beijing, China | |
| “Cold Light Source- Perforce to the 1st Exhibition for Installation of Hefei_2016” , “Beyond Action” KCCA, Beijing, China | |
| “Inclusive:The Closing Celebration of China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange in London” Phoenix Art | |
| 2015 | “Rape: Gender Violence Cultural Codes – 2015 Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition” Jingge Art Club, Beijing, China |
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“The Experimental Zone:The Discussion Project about Art- Nanjing International Art Exhibition” International Art Centre, Nanjing, China
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| “The First Session of 100 Chinese Contemporary Women Artist Exhibition” Huaqiao City, Chengdu, China | |
| “Live Action 10 – Gothenburg” Valand Academy of Fine Art , Gothenburg, Sweden | |
| “Live Action 10 – Gothenburg # Live Time” Red Store Bay, Gothenburg, Sweden | |
| 2014 “Gender Dialogue – GuangzhouLive 5” YouYou Contemporary Art Centre, Guangzhou, China | |
| “Bald Girls” Fundacion LIA, Bogota, Colombia. “Bald Girls” Frauen Museum, Bonn, Germany | |
| “Body Plasticity” Art Now Live, Beijing, China | |
| 2013 | “Digitalize” YouYou Contemporary Art Centre, Guangzhou, China |
| “Why Not ? The First Auction Biennale” Expo Museum, Shanghai, China | |
| “The Grand Canal” Museo Diocesana di Venenzia, The 55th Biennale Arte 2013, Italy | |
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“Art & Women” Primd Piano Living Gallery, Italy. “On the way home – 2102 the 9th Shanghai Biennale Special Project” Pudong Airport, Shanghai, China
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| 2012 | “Carrying Tigers Over Mountains No.4” Permanence Gallery, Beijing, China |
| “Dust from the heart” Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong | |
| “ImmediaRelease” Primd Piano Living Gallery, Italy “Physiognomies” Primd Piano Living Gallery, Italy | |
| “Traditional and Avant-garde” YiAn Art Gallery, Singapore | |
| “Bald Girls” Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China | |
| 2011 | “Forces”10 Chancery lane gallery, Hong Kong |
| “Half The Sky-Women in the New Art of China” Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Drexel University, USA | |
| “Image History Existence” National Art Museum, Beijing, China. “Red “10 Chancery lane gallery, Hong Kong | |
| “Love and hope” Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China | |
| “Heart Outside Body-Exhibition of Oversea Chinese Artists” Times Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| “ShiDai JingShen”, The Main Gallery of Florida Gulf Coast University, USA | |
| 2010 |
“Back to the essence”, Da Xing Art space, Taiwan. “Green Attitude – ARfT Fashion Art Exhibition 2010” Sanlitun Village, Beijing, China
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| 2009 |
“Warm Winter Programme”, ZhengYang Art zone, Beijing, China. “A selecyion of Talkang Art Collection”, Talkang Space, Beijing, China
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| “Women and performance”, La Bellone, Bruseel, Belgium | |
| “City of Women 2009”, Stara Elektrarna, Ljubljana, The Republic of Slovenia | |
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“The Art Achievement Exhibition in commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China”Grand Ballroom of the Beijing Hotel, China
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| “Art – Look or Listen? ”, SooBin Art Int’L, Singapore | |
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“IN the 1980s – Wen Pulin archive of Chinese Avant-garde Art Exhibition Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, China
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| “The White Rabbit First Collection Show”, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia | |
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“Yi Pai – Century Thinking”, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China. “Coming Home”（Cooperate with Archibald McKenzie）, Linda Gallery, Beijing, China
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| “Reflective”, West Lake Art Museum, Hangzhou, China.Today Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| “Twenty-year Anniversary of China/Avant-Garde Exhibition ‘Documentary Exhibition’”, Wall Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
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“Twenty-year Anniversary of China/Avant-Garde Exhibition ‘The Seven Deadly “Seven Sins’”, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
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| 2008 | “Seven Sins” Yan Nan Art, Hangzhou, China |
| “China Action” Groninger Museum, HerLand | |
| 2007 | “Carrying Tigers Over Mountains No.1” Permanence Gallery, Beijing, China |
| “Long March Project 5 Year Retrospective” Long March Space，Beijing, China | |
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“New Wave: The Birth of Chinese Contemporary Art” UCCA, Beijing, China. “Seven Sins” Beijing Art now Gallery, Shanghai, China
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| “Dragon’s Evolution” China Square, New York, USA | |
| “New Curator Project-The Story of Hair” TSI Contemporary Art Center,Beijing,China | |
| “China’s Performance Art photography” Inter Art Center & Gallery, Beijing,China | |
| “Wen Pulin Archive of Chinese Avant-Garde Art-Wang Deren, Xiao Lu, Zan Nian” Zero Field, Beijing, China | |
| “Long March Project – Yan An” Long March Space，Beijing, China | |
| 2006 | 2006 “Women in a society of double-sexuality” Tang Contemporary Art – Bangkok, Thailand |
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“Size Decides Attitude’First 7×5’Picture-taking Biennale Project, Pingyao” The Ancient City of Pingyao, Shanxi, China. TSI Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China
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| “Cold Energy” PYO Gallery, Beijing, China. “Long March Project – Yan An” Yan An kangda Hotel, China | |
| 2005 | “Inward Gazes – Documentaries of Chinese Performance Arts” Museu de Arte de Macau, Macau |
| 2004 | “Transborder Language 2004 – Volume Control” The Spaciousness of 798, Beijing, China |
| 2003 | “China Contempo 2, Urban Illusions and Perceptions”(Cooperate with Tang Song) “Art Seasons”, Singapore |
| 2002 | “The Long March – A Working Visual Display” ( Cooperate with Shen Meng) New York, USA |
| 1998-2001 |
“Inside Out – New Chinese Art” Exhibition around New York, San Francisco, Seattle in USA, Sydney in Australia, Mexico, Hong Kong
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| 1998-2000 |
“Origin of the Point: Global Conceptualism 1950 – 1980” Exhibition around New York, Boston, Chicago, Miami in USA, Europe
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| 1993 | “Six Contemporary Chinese Artists”, Space YZ, University of Western Sydney, Australia |
| 1992 | “Emperor New Clothes”. Irving Gallery, Sydney, Australia |
| 1991 | “Twelve Contemporary Chinese Artists”. University of Sydney Club, Sydney, Australia |
| 1989 | “China/Avant-Garde”. National Art Museum, Beijing, China |
| 2010 | Novel “Dialogue” ( In Chinese ) Author: Xiao Lu Foreword: Gao Minglu Published by Hong Kong University Press 2010 |
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Novel “ Dialogue” ( In English ) Author: Xiao Lu Foreword: Gao Minglu Translator: Archibald McKenzie Published by Hong Kong University Press 2010
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Taiking Life, Beijing, China
MoMA, NY, USA
TATE Museum, London, UK
Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai, China
White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia
MoCA, Singapore
Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing, China
