He Sen is an artist entirely committed to the medium of painting, which he uses to explore the human condition in his powerful and atmospheric works. He Sen is particularly concerned with the dilemmas facing China’s youth as they grow up in a society that is changing so fast.

He Sen graduated from the painting department of the Sichuan academy of Fine Arts in 1989. The early 1990s saw him paint still lives, which, despite lacking a direct human presence, were filled with traces of the China’s new “modern” youth: cassettes, cigarette packets, trainers. He Sen then began featuring people as his subject matter, culminating in a series of paintings depicting snapshots of brightly coloured and slightly surreal TV studios. Since these earlier works He Sen has abandoned the knife and started using the brush to depict his subjects, the details of his paintings are thus much finer and the surfaces smoother, giving the works a different feel.

HE SEN

1968
Born in Yunnan Province, China
1989
Graduated from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Dept. of Art Education. Presently, living and working in Beijing

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2004
“SHADOW SHAPED”, Art Now Gallery, Beijing, China
2003
“GIRL, TOY, SMOKE”, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China
“HE SEN SOLO EXHIBITION”, Marella Art Contemporary,Milano, Italy
2002
“HE SEN SOLO EXHIBITION”, Piltzer Gallery, Paris, France
2001
“SCENE”, Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai, China
2000
“WOMEN’S PORTRAITS”, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China
1992
“FIST EXHIBITION”, Chongqing, China

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2005
“CHINA CONTEMPORARY”, Painting,Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio, Bologna, Italy
“PRAGUE BIENNALE 2”, Karlin Hall, Prague, Czech Republic
“THE SECOND TRIENNIAL OF CHINESE ART”, The Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China
2004
“CHINA AVANT-GARDE”, Vanessa Art House, Jakarta, Indonesia
“11+1: CROWDS AND VOIDS”, Art Scene Warehouse, Shanghai, China
“CHINA’S PHOTOGRAPHIC PAINTING”, China Art Seasons Gallery, Beijing, China
“HUAJIADI”, China Art Seasons Gallery, Beijing, China
“NEW PERSPECTIVES IN CHINESE PAINTING”, Marella Art Contemporary, Milano, Italy
“THE 1st NOMINATIVE EXHIBITION OF FINE ARTS LITERATURE”, Hubei Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Wuhan, China
“BEIJING CHONGQING SHANGHAI – PAINTING AND PHOTOGRAPHY”, Gallery Karin Sachs, Munich, Germany
2003
“OUT OF THE RED – CHINA ART NOW”, Marella Art Contemporary, Milano; Trevi Flash Art Museum, Perugia, Italy
“POST-REVOLUTION AND NEW GENERATION”, Chinablue Gallery, Beijing, China
“MODERNIZATION AND URBANIZATION”, Opening ‘Seoul-Asia Art Now’ Exhibition, Marronnier Art Center, Seoul, Korea
2002
“NEW YORK ASIA INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR”, New York, USA
“YOUTH-CRUELTY”, ddmwarehouse, Shanghai, China
“GOLDEN HARVEST – CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART”, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia
2001
“ON BOYS AND GIRLS”, UpRiver Loft, KunMing, Soobin Art Gallery, Singapore
“UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT”, Chengdu Contemporary Arts Museum, Chengdu, China
“1st CHENGDU BIENNALE”, Chengdu Contemporary Arts Museum, Chengdu, China
2000
“GATE OF THE CENTURY 1979-1999, CHINESE ART INVITTIONAL EXHIBITION”, Chengdu, China
“EXHIBITION OF THE COLLECTION OF SHANGHAI ART MUSEUM”, Shanghai, China
“INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY IN ART”, Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou; Shanghai Art Fair, China; Melbourne Art Fair, Australia
1999
“EXHIBITION OF DONGYU ART GALLERY”, Shenyang, China
“ACADEMIC EXHIBITION”, Upriver Gallery, Chengdu, China
“SHARP NEW SIGHT FROM YOUNG ARTISTS BORN AROUND 1970”, Beijing; Shanghai Art Fair, Shanghai, China
1997
“1st ACADEMIC EXHIBITION OF CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART”, Beijing, Hong Kong
1995
“3rd ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF CHINESE OIL PAINTING”, Beijing, China
“URBAN IDEALIST – NEW ART FROM SICHUAN”, Hong Kong
“CHINESE CONTEMPORARY OIL PAINTINGS: FROM REALISM TO POST MODERNISM”, Theoremes Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
1994
“SLICED”, Chongqing, China
1993
“CHINA’S NEW ART: POST 1989”, Hanart Gallery, Hong Kong
“1st BIENNIAL EXHIBITION OF CHINESE OIL PAINTING”, Beijing, China
“2nd EXHIBITION OF CHINESE OIL PAINTING”, Beijing, China
1992
“1st ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF CHINESE OIL PAINTING”, Hong Kong
“1st BIENNIAL ART EXHIBITION”, Guangzhou, China
“2nd DOCUMENTRY EXHIBITION OF CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART”, Guangzhou, China
1989
“SICHUAN PROVINCIAL FINE ART EXHIBITION”, Provincial Gallery, Chengdu, China