The 20 Most Popular Chinese Artists Today

Introduction: Contemporary Art in China

It is safe to say the Chinese contemporary art scene is one of the world’s most exciting and growing art scenes. Whereas the focal point of the art world used to be Western Europe and the United States of America, China has risen to the occasion and has provided a tremendous amount of established artists over the past decades—contributing to contemporary art as we know it today.

Nevertheless, for many art enthusiasts, the field of contemporary art in China might still be unknown territory, except for a few superstar artists. Therefore, this article provides you with the top list of the twenty most famous Chinese contemporary artists.

The list was created using the Artfacts algorithm, ranking and selecting artists based on objective and art-scientific career data.[1] By doing so, we present an accurate and reasoned anthology of today’s most influential and important Chinese artists—a comprehensive overview of the canon of Chinese contemporary, assembling the twenty artists you absolutely should know.

20. Zheng Bo

Born in 1974 in Beijing, China, currently residing and working in Hong Kong, Zheng Bo is a multidisciplinary and socially engaged artist who is occupied with “new public art”, where praxis is indispensable from everyday life for public issues. His works examine social participation, intervention, and engagement, aiming to go beyond individual expression.

One could argue every single artwork by Zheng Bo is a collaboration in which the artist is merely the initiator of the artwork, engaging and collaborating with other citizens or even different species. For instance, Bo does not only take on marginalized communities but also marginalized plants; think of his works in which he creates weedy gardens, or eco-queer films, to cultivate ecological wisdom.

Zheng Bo participated in 2019 in the 58th Venice Biennale, was the artist-in-residence in 2020 at the Gropius Bau in Berlin, and has been included in numerous institutional exhibitions — for instance, at the Asia Art Archive in Hong Kong, the UCCA Dune Art Museum in Qinhuangdao, or the Hong Kong Museum of Art.[2]

19. Cai Guo-Qiang

Born in 1957 in Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, China, residing and working in New York, the United States of America, Cai Guo-Qiang’s artistic practice is both scholarly and politically charged. His oeuvre encompasses a variety of media, including the use of gunpowder, to foster spontaneity while confronting the control of his artistic action and China’s social climate.

The Chinese contemporary artist implements various materials, symbols, traditions, and narratives. Think of Chinese medicine, philosophy, and symbols of tigers and dragons. But also roller coasters, computers, vending machines, and above all, gunpowder, reflecting upon explosives as a metaphor, matter, and subject matter.

Cai Guo-Qiang participated thrice in the Venice Biennale, winning the prestigious Golden Lion Prize during the 48th edition of the art festival. He is represented by industry-leading art galleries and participated in museum shows across the globe, encompassing the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Shanghai Art Museum, and Tate Modern in London.[3]

For further reading on Cai Guo-Qiang, we highly recommend the printed publication Cai Guo-Qiang: Odyssey and Homecoming.

18. Evelyn Taocheng Wang

Born in 1981 in Chengdu, China, residing and working in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Evelyn Taocheng Wang is a multidisciplinary artist working in painting, calligraphy, performance, video, installation, and even fashion design. She takes on multiple themes at once, creating an intriguing body of works through the manner of overlay and hybridization of culture, ideology, and history.

For instance, her works serve as a medium and agency, challenging and combining traditional Chinese art, recent art history, colonial history, identity politics, and more. She intentionally integrates and interconnects autonomous notions, intertwining personal fragments of her biography with fiction.

Evelyn Taocheng Wang’s work is featured in major institutional collections, think of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Institute of Chicago, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. She participated in group exhibitions at renowned art institutions such as WIELS in Brussels, Antenna Space in Shanghai, and the Kunstverein Düsseldorf.[4]

For further reading on Evelyn Taocheng Wang, we highly recommend Evelyn Taocheng Wang: I. M. Personally.

17. Liu Xiaodong

Liu Xiaodong was born in 1963 in Jincheng, China, and currently resides and works in Beijing. However, his projects also made him travel to Tibet, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, and Cuba, being a painter of modern life and the emerging world.

The Chinese contemporary painter locates the human condition in his often large-scale works, serving as a kind of history painting taking on global issues. Think of population displacement, economic upheaval, or environmental issues. His carefully orchestrated compositions, marked by a documentary Neo-Realist character, walk the line between reality and artifice.

Liu Xiaodong has had major solo exhibitions at institutions such as Dallas Contemporary, the Louisiana Museum, Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, the Seattle Art Museum, and the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing.[5]

For further reading on Liu Xiaodong, we highly recommend reading Liu Xiaodong (Contemporary Painters Series).

16. Yin Xiuzhen

Born in 1963 in Beijing, where the artist continues to work and reside, Yin Xiuzhen is a contemporary artist who is best known for her contemporary sculptures and installations. Using clothing, shoes, or even suitcases, she incorporates secondhand objects as ready-mades into her three-dimensional artistic practice.

Yin Xiuzhen is inspired by the rapidly changing cultural environment of her town of birth, Beijing. She connects her individual memory with her collective history, using the ready-mades as mentioned above as documents of memory, raising awareness for the individuals who have been neglected by her city’s drive for progress.

Her works have been showcased during numerous milestone exhibitions across the globe. For instance, the Chinese pavilion during the 52nd Venice Biennale, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Düsseldorf Art Museum.[6]

For further reading, we highly recommend the monographic publication titled Yin Xiuzhen.

15. Sun Xun

Born in 1980 in Fluxin, China, residing and working in Beijing, Sun Xun combines true craftsmanship with stylistic experimentation, not pinning him to one particular medium. The artist uses various materials, blurring the distinction between different media such as drawing, painting, installation, printmaking, and even animation.

His works are strongly influenced by the lingering effects of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, exploring themes of global history, culture, politics, and memory. Xun is intrigued by the discrepancy between the perception of historical events by ordinary citizens versus the official presentation by public media — which is one of many contrapositions in his oeuvre besides the past versus the present, personal versus the political, or even animals versus people.

Sun Xun was awarded the Best Young Artists award by the CCAA and the Young Art Award by Taiwan Contemporary Art Link. As a result, the Chinese artist has had numerous solo exhibitions, nationally and internationally, showcasing his work at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles or the Kunsthaus Baselland in Basel.[7]

For further reading, we highly recommend the monographic publication titled Sun Xun.

14. Liu Wei

Born in 1972 in Beijing, where the artist continues to work and reside, Liu Wei is a multidisciplinary artist working in photography, painting, sculpture, and installation. A recurring element is transforming discarded materials into sculptural objects, creating installations with often layered complexity.

As a result, the use of ready-mades is essential in Liu Wei’s oeuvre; think of implementing found objects such as books, fridges, fans, televisions, or ceramics. By doing so, Liu Wei tackles China’s unique and explosive urbanization history, discussing architectural and urban themes throughout his works.

Liu Wei has had solo exhibitions at the Long Museum in Shanghai, the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, the Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, and more, with group exhibitions at Whitechapel Gallery in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, or the Centre National d’Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou in Paris.[8]

For further reading, we highly recommend the monographic publication Liu Wei: Trilogy.

13. Huang Yongping

Born in 1954 in Xiamen, China, and passed away in 2019 in Paris, France, Huang Yong Ping is one of the most famous but also most controversial artists of Chinese contemporary art history. The provocative Chinese Avant-Garde artist was the co-founder of the Xiamen Dada group in 1986, creating anti-art in the historical tradition of Marcel Duchamp.

His oeuvre is marked by an anti-artistic affection, anti-self-expression, anti-art, and anti-history. The notorious Chinese-French artist stated art is opium to men, and as long as art exists, life will never be peaceful. His works take form in installation, sculpture, performance, and intervention, inspired by Joseph Beuys, John Cage, and Dada.

Huang Yong Ping exhibited at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, the Red Brick Museum in Beijing, and the Walker Art Center of Minneapolis. He represented France during the 48th Venice Biennale. [9]

12. Lu Yang

Lu Yang, born in 1984 in Shanghai, where the artist continues to work and reside, is a contemporary artist exploring themes and formats in which she combines traditional Chinese medicine and spirituality with contemporary digital culture — often collaborating with performers, designers, illustrators, and composers.

Working in video, installation, and performance, Lu Yang examines gender representation with 3D animated works. Inspired by Japanese Manga, gaming subcultures, and her fascination for the human body, and neurology, the Chinese contemporary artist merges high art with popular culture, the scientific with the spiritual, and the digital world with our world.

Lu Yang exhibited across the globe at renowned institutions and galleries. Her work was showcased at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the UCCA in Beijing, the Shangai Biennale, and the Chinese Pavillion during the 56th Venice Biennale.[10]

11. Guan Xiao

Born in 1983 in Chongqing, China, residing and working in Beijing, Guan Xiao is occupied with sculpture, installation, and video, aiming to break historical and cultural boundaries by identifying disparate relationships between unexpected materials with a characteristic playful approach. Think of positioning industrial products next to cultural objects, accompanied by a cascade of images on screens.

Her works present a contrast, or sometimes even a conflict. She aims to fuse the old and new, the digital and the analog, the natural and the artificial, with puzzling arrangements. In doing so, Guan Xiao critiques the technological thrust of today, questioning the dislocation and velocity of our approaching future.

Guan Xiao’s work feature in renowned permanent collections such as the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the K11 Art Foundation in Hong Kong, the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen in Switzerland, and the Long Museum in Shanghai. She has had one-person shows at the Kunsthalle Winterthur in Switzerland, the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis and the Jeu de Paume in Paris.[11]

10. Zhang Huan

Born in 1965 in Anyang, China, residing and working between Shanghai and New York City, Zhang Huan is a highly influential and provocative contemporary artist. The Neo-Conceptual artist explored the layers of his ideas with his early performance art but also worked in painting and photography.

The Chinese artist worked in New York City for eight years before moving to Shanghai in 2005. His ideas are conceived as existential explorations and social comments. During the early years of his career, the artist was primarily occupied with happenings and performances before developing towards a more traditional studio practice.

Zhang Huan exhibited at the MoMA PS1 in New York, the Storm King Art Center in New York, the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Michigan, the Forte di Belvedere and Pallazzo Vecchio, the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, and the Shanghai Art Museum.[12]

9. Song Dong

Born in 1966 in Beijing, where the artist continues to work and reside, Song Dong is one of the best-known figures in the Chinese contemporary art scene. He explores themes of memory, self-expression, impermanence, the transience of human endeavors, and the value of the human expression in China’s rapidly developing society.

With his multidisciplinary artistic practice, working in painting, video, performance, and sculpture, Song communicates his worldview, showing the small details of humanity in direct contact with the futility of our existence.

Song Dong’s works feature in numerous institutional collections, such as the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane, the FRAC des Pays de la Loire in Carquefou, the BizArt in Shanghai, and the Walther Collection in Neu-Ulm.[13]

For further reading, we highly recommend the monographic publication Song Dong.

8. He Xiangyu

Born in 1986 in the Liaoning Province, China, residing and working between Beijing and Berlin, He Xiangyu is also part of a generation of Chinese artists who experienced, and are occupied with, the rapid urbanization of their country. His experimental practice challenges material and conceptual elements, investigating personal, social, and political themes.

Using various media, He Xiangyu aims to guide and even adjust our perception through material changes within the object. By doing so, he reflects on philosophical ideas, think of materialism, the obsolescence of our society, or the role of art, think of the role of institutions, and the commercialization of art.

He Xiangyu recently exhibited at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Berlin, the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art in Manchester, the Fondazione Merz in Turin, the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Castello di Rivoli in Turin, and the Chinese National Pavilion during the 58th Venice Biennale.[14]

For further reading, we highly recommend the monographic publication He Xiangyu: Yellow Book.

7. Qiu Zhijie

Born in 1969 in Zhangzhou, China, residing and working in Beijing is a contemporary artist and curator best known for his calligraphy, ink painting, photography, installation, video, and performance art. His representational artworks are an experimental communication between Chinese tradition and contemporary art, social participation, and the power of self-liberation in art.

Qiu Zhjie was the curator of the first video art exhibition in China and curated the younger generation of Chinese artists at the turn of the millennium, many of whom are represented in this list. He was also the curator of the Chinese Pavillion during the 57th Venice Biennale, influencing the Chinese contemporary art scene both as an artist and as a curator.

Renowned museums and institutions collect Zhjie’s works. Think of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, and more.[15]

For further reading, we highly recommend Zhijie: Breaking the Ice, a History.

6. Yang Fudong

Born in 1971 in Beijing, currently residing and working in Shanghai, Yang Fudong is a contemporary artist working mainly in film, photography, and installation.

His visual language is marked by a dream-like mysterious atmosphere in which his characters move according to choreographed gestures. Yang Fudong aims to transport the viewer, to suspend and confuse time. The aesthetically perfect environment the artist creates functions as a catalyst for this transportation.

Yang Fudong has exhibited across the globe, think of his solo shows at renowned institutions such as the Fosun Foundation in Shanghai, the Long Museum West Bund in Shanghai, the Espace Louis Vuitton in Tokyo, the Auckland Art Gallery, the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens, or the Parasol Unit in London.[16]

For further reading, we highly recommend the printed publication Yang Fudong: No Snow on the Broken Bridge: Film and Video Installations.

5. Yan Pei-Ming

Born in 1960 in Shanghai, China, residing and working in Dijon, France, Yan Pei-Ming is arguably the most important Chinese contemporary painter of his generation. His figurative works, often oil on canvas using just two tones and expressive brushstrokes, depict politicians, actors, popes, iconic artworks, and the artist himself.

Yan Pei-Ming takes on a variety of themes and subjects, strongly indebted to the art historical tradition of European painting. He examines the power of painting and its relation with the status of the depicted subjects, reconnecting with the pathosformal of archetypes of old conventions of representation, resulting in an expressive tension between conventional forms and contemporary relevance.

The Chinese-French artist exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2003, after which the Louvre acquired his work as the artist engaged in a dialogue with Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. He has had solo shows at renowned institutions such as the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa, the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, and the CAC Málaga.[17]

For further reading, we highly recommend the publication Yan Pei-Ming: Tigres & Vatours.

4. Xu Bing

Born in Chongqing, China, residing and working between New York City and Beijing, Xu Bing is a contemporary artist best known for his mixed-media installations, evoking and subverting old Chinese cultural traditions. For instance, Xu Bing takes on calligraphy, wood-block printing, or landscape painting on scrolls.

The main aim of Xu Bing’s artistic practice is to make the viewer aware of how our cultural backgrounds shape our worldviews, especially those shaped by language — similar to Structuralism in postmodern philosophy. He plays with language, disrupting the viewers’ expectations and perceptions.

Xu Bing received major awards during his career, such as the Artes Mundi Prize, the Fukuoka Asian Culture Award, and the MacArthur Fellowship. He participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions at major institutions such as the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, and the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing.[18]

For further reading, we highly recommend the monographic publication Xu Bing: Book from the Sky to Book from the Ground.

3. Xu Zhen

Born in 1977 in Shanghai, where the artist continues to work and reside, Xu Zhen’s artistic practice combines both conceptual strategies and elements of Pop. His provocative aesthetics result from behavioral and cultural experiments, working first in performance and video and today predominantly in sculpture, painting, and installation.

His works discuss clashes of cultures, using various iconographies, and making them collide. By doing so, Xu Zhen embodies with his work the violent nature of so-called cultural hybridization, questioning the loss of meaning and context in a globalized digital era.

Xu Zhen has had numerous successful exhibitions nationally, and internationally. For instance, in 2020, the Chinese artist exhibited at the Duolun Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai, the Pingshan Art Museum in Shenzhen, the Beijing Mingsheng Art Museum in Beijing, and the New Century Art Foundation in Beijing.[19]

For further reading, we highly recommend the monographic publication Xu Zhen.

2. Cao Fei

Born in 1978 in Guangzhou, the Guangdong Province, China, and residing and working in Beijing, Cao Fei is one of her generation’s most important Chinese artists, working in photography, video, and digital media.

She exposes the dramatic changes in her everyday environment since 1992, focusing on China’s economic growth, rapid globalization, and urban development. Fascinated by local youth subcultures, she explores the alienation and escapism of youth who are as present in digital worlds as they are in reality, balancing between utopia and dystopia.

Cao Fei has solo-exhibited at renowned institutions such as the Stedelijk Museum Het Domein in Sittard, Serpentine Gallery in London, and Center for contemporary Art in Tel Aviv, the Museum of Modern Art PS1 in New York, and more.[20]

For further reading, we highly recommend the monographic publication Cao Fei.

1. Ai Weiwei

Born in 1957 in Beijing, working and residing in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal, Ai Weiwei is the most famous Chinese artist today on our list. Besides being a contemporary artist, a thinker, and a genuine global citizen, Weiwei has resided for longer periods in various parts of the world. His works are the end result of a period of investigation, in which he presents the outcome of his research in the form of contemporary art—most often installation, sculpture, photography, or performance.

Ai Weiwei unites activism with art, aiming to improve the world through the manner of art, taking on problematic socio-political issues, and investigating our human existence in relation to economic or political forces. Recurring themes are humor, cynism, capitalism, totalitarianism, and the inevitable conflicts of a globalized world.

As a result, it is no surprise to find Ai Weiwei’s work in almost all major art institutions, with solo shows at, among others, the Albertina Modern in Vienna, the Imperial War Museum in London, the Public Art Fund in New York, Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C., or the Tate Modern in London.[22]

For further reading, we highly recommend the monographic publication Ai Weiwei.

Notes:

[1] ArtFacts, Home of the Artist Ranking at https://artfacts.net consulted 13/09/2022.
[2] Kiang Malingue, Zhen Bo at https://kiangmalingue.com/artists/zheng-bo/ consulted 13/09/2022.
[3] Art21, Cai Guo-Qiang at https://art21.org/artist/cai-guo-qiang/ consulted 13/09/2022.
[4] Antenna Space, Wang at http://antenna-space.com/en/artists/yifulingwangtaocheng/ consulted 13/09/2022.
[5] Lisson Gallery, Liu Xiaodong at https://www.lissongallery.com/artists/liu-xiaodong consulted 13/09/2022.
[6] Pace Gallery, Yin Xiuzhen at https://www.pacegallery.com/artists/yin-xiuzhen/ consulted 13/09/2022.
[7] Sean Kelly Gallery, Sun Xun at https://www.skny.com/artists/sun-xun consulted 13/09/2022.
[8] White Cube, Liu Wei at https://whitecube.com/artists/artist/liu_wei consulted 13/09/2022.
[9] Kamel Mennour, Huang Yong Ping at https://kamelmennour.com/artists/huang-yong-ping consulted 13/09/2022.
[10] Sedition, Lu Yang at https://www.seditionart.com/lu-yang consulted 13/09/2022.
[11] David Kordansky Gallery, Guan Xiao at https://www.davidkordanskygallery.com/artist/guan-xiao consulted 13/09/2022.
[12] Pace Gallery, Zhang Huan at https://www.pacegallery.com/artists/zhang-huan/ consulted 13/09/2022.
[13] Pace Gallery, Song Dong at https://www.pacegallery.com/artists/song-dong/ consulted 13/09/2022.
[14] White Cube, He Xiangyu at https://whitecube.com/artists/artist/he_xiangyu consulted 14/09/2022.
[15] Galleria Continua, Qiu Zhijie at https://www.galleriacontinua.com/artists/qiu-zhijie-63/biography consulted 14/09/2022.
[16] Marian Goodman Gallery, Yang Fudong at https://www.mariangoodman.com/artists/73-yang-fudong/ consulted 14/09/2022.
[17] Thaddaeus Ropac, Yan Pei-Ming at https://ropac.net/artists/90-yan-peiming/ consulted 14/09/2022.
[18] Art21, Xu Bing at https://art21.org/artist/xu-bing/ consulted 14/09/2022.
[19] Perrotin, XU ZHEN(r) at https://www.perrotin.com/artists/Zhen_Xu/302#biography consulted 14/09/2022.
[20] The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation, Cao Fei at https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/cao-fei consulted 14/09/2022.
[21] Lisson Gallery, Ai Weiwei at https://www.lissongallery.com/artists/ai-weiwei consulted 14/09/2022.

Last Updated on October 9, 2024