Cang Xin has been an important representative of Chinese performance art throughout the 90’s. Constantly challenging the limits of his body and preconceptions of what performance art can be he has moved away from Western conceptual art to an altogether more searching and philosophical stance. His recent work has been inspired by Shamanism and includes his ‘Licking’ series in which he interacts with the internal spirit of each object.

In November 2006 Cang Xin was invited to London by The Red Mansion Foundation to take part in an artist residency, part of our wider programme of exchange activities. He stayed in London for 3 weeks during which time he produced a new series of work ‘Identity Exchange: London Series’, a continuation of the ongoing ‘Identity Exchange’ series.

View ‘Identity Exchange: London Series’ Gallery>

1967
Born in Suihua, Heilongjiang Province, China
1988
Studied at the Tianjin Academy of Music, China
1991
Studied paint by himself
2006
Lives and works in 798 Factory, Beijing, China

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2006
“EXISTENCE IN TRANSLATION 1993-2006”, Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
“OUTSIDE CONTEXT PROBLEM”, Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
“GALLERY ARTISTS GROUP SHOW 6”, Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
“CANG XIN – ONA B – THE GREAT WALL”, Magazin4, Bregenzer Kunstverein, Bregenz, Austria
2005
“VEHICLE AND MIRROR”, Beijing New Art Projects, Beijing, China Tribute to 85, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
“BETWEEN PAST AND FUTURE: NEW PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO FROM CHINA”, V&A, London, UK
“GALLERY ARTISTS – GROUP SHOW 5”, Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
“BEIJING CONTEMPORARY”, Galerie Kampl, Munich, Germany
“OUT OF THE RED – 2: THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SESSION”, Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy
“LIVING IN INTERESTING TIMES – A DECADE OF NEW CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHY”, The Open Museum of Photography, Haifa, Israel
“BODY SCAPE”, Contemporary Chinese Photography and Performance Documentation, Red Gate Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
“UNUSUAL SCENE – FIVE CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS”, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
“INWARD GAZES”, Documentaries of Chinese Performance Art, Macao Museum of Art, Macao
2004
“SPELLBOUND AURA”, The New Vision of Chinese Photography, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei
“SENS INTERDITS?”, Sensuality in Contemporary Chinese Art, Equipe des Arts Plastiques de l’ADDC; Ville et Centre Cultural
“BETWEEN PAST AND FUTURE”, New Photography and Video from CHINA; New York, International Center of Photography; Asia Society Chicago, David Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art; Seattle, Art Museum; London, Victoria and Albert Museum; Berlin, Haus der Kulturen der Welt; Santa Barbara Museum of Art
“THE 9th NIPAF ASIAN PERFORMANCE ART SERIES ’04”, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Nagano
“MOVING ON”, Contemporary art Museum, National University of Singapore
“THE 4th PINGYAO INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL”, Pingyao, Shanxi
“PUBLIC TERRITORY”, the 1st Architectural Biennial Beijing, Public Space and Urban Environment
“CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART PHOTOGRAPH EXHIBITION”, Cologne, Germany
2003
“ASIAN ART FESTIVAL”, Japan, Fokouka Asian Gallery
“BARE ANDROGYNY”, Beijing, China
“A STRONGE HEAVEN”, Contemporary Chinese Photography Vienna National Museum, France National Museum, Czechoslovakia National Museum.
“PUBLIC SPACE AND PERSONAL EYES – NEW VISION IN CHINA”, Kampnagel Artist Center, Hamburg, Germany
2002
“N IDENTITY”, Nanjing, CHINA
“BIENNALE OF SYDNEY- THE WORLD MAY BE FANTASTIC”, Sydney, Australia
“MASK Vs. FACE”, Redgate Gallery, Beijing, China
“PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP EXHIBITION”, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing China
“KE LI LANG OVER-INTEREST CONTEMPORAY ART EXHIBITION”, Singapore
“PINGYAO INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL”, Pingyao, Shanxi
“MAKING DREAM”, Portrait Donglang Gallery, Shanghai
“BRIDGE-CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION”, Jilin Changchun
“THE 1 GUANGZHOU TRIENNIAL”, Guangdong Art Museum, Guangdong
2001
“CHARMING CHINA”, Bangkok, Thailand
“THE 8th INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ART”, Tokyo, Japan
“HOT POT”, Kinesisk Samtidskunst, Chinese Contemporary Art, Norway
“VIRTUAL FUTURE”, GuangDong Museum of Art
“HONG KONG CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY”, Hong Kong Art Center
“CONTEMPORARY CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHY”, Galerie Loft, Paris, France
“UPRISING”, Singapore, Kualu Lumpar, Taiwan, Beijing, Macau
“ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHY”, Shandong, Dong Ying, China
“COURTYARD GALLERY FOUR PERSON EXHIBITION”, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing, China
“NICE CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL”, Nice City, France
“DIALOGO”, Chinese contemporary art exhibition, Mantova, Italy
“CHINESE CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION”, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
“DIALOGO – OTHERS”, Chinese contemporary art exhibition, Chiesa Santa Teresa dei Maschi, Bari, Italy
“KNOWLEDGE IS POWER”, Chinese contemporary art exhibition, Beijing Xidan, China
2000
“XIEYANG ISLAND PERFORMANCE ART FESTIVAL”, Guangxi, China
“2000 IMAGE AND NET ART Exhibition”, Changchun, China
“HOME? CONTEMPORARY ART Project”, show, Shanghai, China
“MAN AND ANIMALS”, performance art show, Beijing, China
“INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ART INTERFLOW EXHIBITION”, Nanjing, China
“PHOTOGRAPHS OF FOUR ARTISTS”, show, London, UK
“AMAZING CHINA”, Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai, China
“INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ART FESTIVAL”, Beijing, China
“ASIAN ART FESTIVAL”, performance art photo exhibition, Paris, France
“DOCUMENTATION OF CHINESE AVANT-GARDE ART IN 90’s”, Fuknoka Asian Art Museum, Japan
“CHINA’S HUMAN LANDSCAPES”, Land Art Exhibition, Guilin, China
“UNUSUAL AND USUAL”, Contemporary Art Exhibition, Shanghai, China
1999
“MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY OF FOUR ARTISTS”, Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
“OUT OF CONTROL”, Beijing Design Museum, CHINA
“START FROM CHINA”, New Art Exhibition, Beijing
“UNUSUAL WAY OF WRITING”, show, Art Academy of Nanjing Normal University. China
“DOCUMENTATION OF CHINESE INSTALLATION ART EXHIBITION”, Hong Kong
1998
“431 VIDEO AND COMPUTER ART EXHIBITION”, Changchun, China
1997
“PROGRAM FOR THE PATIENT: AUTO-WRITE”, solo show of performance art, Beijing, China
1996
“CAGE”, Installation and performance show, Beijing, China
“COMMUNICATION”, Solo show of performance art, Beijing, China
1995
“HEIGHTEN THE NAMELESS MOUNTAIN BY ONE METER”, performance art, Beijing
“ORIGINAL SOUND”, performance art show, Beijing, China
“CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION”, Changchun, China
1994
“ASIA CONTEMPORARY ART”, Tokyo, Osaka, Japan
“POST ELEVEN”, Zhaoyao Gallery, Beijing, China
“VIRUS SERIES: TRAMPLE THE FACE”, Sole show of performance art, Beijing, China
1993
“VIRUS SERIES: No.1”, Sole show of performance art, Beijing, China