HU Xiangcheng
胡項城works in Beijing (b. 1950, Shanghai)
HU Xiangcheng (b. 1950), a pioneering contemporary artist in China, has dedicated his career to pushing the boundaries of both art and culture. He was among the first mainland painters to settle in Tibet to teach art after the end of the Cultural Revolution. In the 1980s, he travelled to Japan to study the Mingei folk art movement, and in the early 1990s moved to Africa where he lived and worked collaboratively with African folk artists for several years. Upon his return to China in mid 1990s, he shifted his focus to the revival of rural culture and folk architecture in Jiangnan canal villages, and this became a decade-long commitment. As an artist, HU never ceases to expand the scope of his creative and cultural investigations. He is known for his monumental paintings and installations that reflect on contemporary challenges for art posed by new technologies, global ecology, ideological cold war, and the disintegration of historical cultures.
| 1973-1976 | Studied in Stage Design Department of Shanghai Theatre Academy |
| 1976-1986 | Worked as professor at Shanghai Theatre Academy |
| 1978-1980 | Worked as a volunteer teacher at Tibet University |
| 1986-2000 | Studied and worked in Japan |
| 1990-1996 | Frequent travel between South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and other countries |
Selected Solo Exhibition
| 2024 | Asking Every Day, Power Station of Art, Shanghai |
| 2020 | Endless Dialogue Without Beginning or End – Exhibition of Hu Xiangcheng’s Works, National Art Museum of China, Beijing |
| 2018 | Now & Beyond: Hu Xiangcheng Installation Art ExhibitionShanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai |
| 2014 | This is Not a Zero, Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai |
| Echolocations: Solo Exhibition of Hu Xiangcheng, Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou |
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| 2008 | Not only for Mortal Eyes, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong |
| 2007 | Sourjourns of A Stranger, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai |
| 1999 | Hu Xiangcheng, Iruma City Museum, Iruma, Japan |
| 1991 | Hu Xiangcheng, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai |
| Hu Xiangcheng, Ibaraki Tsukuba Museum, Ibaraki, Japan | |
| 1988 | Hu Xiangcheng, Hong Kong Arts Center, Hong Kong, China |
| Selected Joint Exhibition | |
| 2025 | Where the Spirit Returns to, Jinji Lake Art Museum, Suzhou |
| Beyond the Location – The Dream Chaser, Mingyuan Art Museum, Shanghai | |
| Monuments, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong | |
| 2024 | Line 2024: Contemporary Art Invitation Exhibition, 3723 Art Museum, Shanghai |
| 2023 | Return to Nature, Pearl Art Museum, Shanghai |
| Ten Woodworks One Glance, Power Station of Art, Shanghai | |
| 2020 | Shanghai Waves: Historical Archives and Works of Shanghai Biennale, Power Station of Art, Shanghai |
| 2017 | The Bond of Arts – Ningbo , An Exchange Exhibition of Chinese and Japanese Contemporary Artists, Ningbo Museum of Art, Ningbo |
| 2016 | Xieyi, from the National Art Museum of China, Antiguo Colegio de San IIdefonso, Mexico |
| Meaning, the 3rd Chinese Oil Painting Biennale, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China | |
| Multiple Time: Histories of a Global Hub, Suzhou Documents, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou | |
| Megacities Asia, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston | |
| Havana International Art Festival, Cuba National Museum of Art, Cuba | |
| 2015 | 1st Asia Biennial / 5th Guangzhou Triennial: Asia Time, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou |
| Border of Nomadism, Mingyuan Art Museum, Shanghai | |
| 2014 | Reformation, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia |
| A Fragment in the course of Time, Landscape of Chinese Ink Art in the 1980s, Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai | |
| 2013 | Insightful Charisma, Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai |
| 2012 | Just What Is It About The End of The World That Makes It So Appealing?, V-ART CENTER, Shanghai |
| 2011 | The Hague under Heaven, Contemporary Sculpture from China, Hague,Netherlands |
| 2010 | West Heavens Exhibitions-Place·Time·Play , India-China Contemporary Art, Shanghai |
| 2008 | 3rd Guangzhou Triennial: Farewell to Post-Colonialism, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou |
| Suspension Express, Z-Art Center, Shanghai, China | |
| 2007 | OPEN: 10th International Exhibition of Sculptures and Installations, Venice, Italy |
| Sao Paulo Architecture Biennale, Sao Paulo, Brazil | |
| 2006 | Microcosm, Chinese Contempory Art, Macao Museum of Art (Macao Culture Centre), Macao |
| 2005 | Yokohama Triennial, Yokohama, Japan |
| 2004 | OPEN: 7th International Exhibition of Sculptures and Installations, Venice, Italy |
| Yellow Box, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei | |
| International Ancient and Modern Art Exhibition, Art of Ink Painting, Fukuoka City Museum, Fukuoka, Japan | |
| 2002 | Paris-Pekin: Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition, Paris, France |
| 1999 | Sao Paulo Architecture Biennale, Sao Paulo, Brazil |
| Future Art Exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan | |
| East West, Modern Art Exhibition, Los Angeles, USA | |
| 1998 | 2nd Shanghai Biennale, Fusion and Expansion, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai |
| 1997 | The Collection of Shanghai Art Museum, Incheon New World Art Museum, Incheon, Korea |
| 1989 | Spain International Art Exhibition, Spain |
Selected Public Collection
| Power Station of Art, Shanghai | |
| Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou | |
| National Art Museum of China, Beijing | |
| White Rabbit Contemporary Chinese Art Collection, Sydney, Australia | |
| Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai |
