Chen Shaoxiong

SPRING

Chen Shaoxiong

Cop and Thief, 1997
Video, 8 minutes

Born in Shantou, China, in 1962, Chen Shaoxiong graduated from the printmaking department at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 1984. He joined the Southern Artists Salon in 1986, and in 1990 co-founded the Big Tail Elephant Working Group (see below) along with fellow artists Liang Juhui and Lin Yilin (and later joined by Xu Tan, in 1993). For over 30 years, Chen explored social reality, politics, the nature of media, and urbanisation in his oeuvre. From his renowned Guangzhou-based photographic series Streetto his collaborative project as Xijing Men (with the Japanese artist Ozawa Tsuyoshi and the South Korean artist Gimhongsok) to his socially engaged works later in his career, like Ink Media, Chen’s oeuvre takes on, with poignancy and humour, social and political realities in a rapidly changing China.

Chen passed away in 2016.