Miao Xiaochun

Miao Xiaochun (born 1964, in Wuxi, Jiangsu, China) is an artist and photographer based in Beijing.
Life
Miao Xiaochun was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. In 1986 he received his bachelor's degree and graduated from Nanjing University. In 1989 Miao graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, China and from Kassel Academy of Fine Arts in Germany in 1999 for two master's degrees. Until now he is teaching Art Photography and Digital Media at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
He is best known for his large scale photographs, often assembled panoramas, of modern Chinese cityscapes. His signature element is the presence of "He", a figure in ancient Chinese scholar costume. Other works include computer graphics installations such as The Last Judgement in Cyberspace, a 3D monochrome reworking of Michelangelo's The Last Judgment from the Sistine Chapel replacing every figure with a virtual model of Miao himself.
Miao Xiaochun is considered one of the most representative and influential artists In the domain of China’s new media art. He started in 90s his creative explorations on the interface between the real and the virtual. His extensive body of work includes photography, painting and 3D computer animation which are parallel to each other. He works in contemporary photography based on the “multiple view point” perspective to pioneer connections between history and the modern world.
Miao Xiaochun successfully uses 3D technology to create upon a 2D image a virtual 3D scene, to transform a still canvas into moving images, concurrently changing the traditional way of viewing paintings and giving a completely new interpretation and significance to a masterpiece of art, especially with the striking use of his idiosyncratic imagination about history and the future. His works add an important example to contemporary negotiations with art history, and open up new potential for art as he experiments with new possibilities, taking a step forward into new potential spheres.
His photographic and 3D animation works such as The Last Judgment in Cyberspace, H2O, Microcosm, Restart and Disillusion as well as his digital ink painting series "Beijing Handscroll"are worldwide exhibited.
2011
Out of Body, White Box Museum of Art, 798 Beijing;
Beijing Handscrolls, Guardini Foundation, Berlin, Germany;
MIAO XIAOCHUN, Galeria Arsenał w Białymstoku, Poland
2010
Macromania, Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany;
Miao Xiaochun—Two Big Video Works, Today Art Museum, Beijing;
Recent Works by Miao Xiaochun, Arario Gallery, Seoul
2009
Index, White Space Beijing and Alexander Ochs Galleries Berlin|Beijing, Beijing;
Microcosm, Arario Gallery, Beijing-New York
2008
The Last Judgment in Cyberspace, Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, St. Louis, MO, USA
2007
The Last Judgment in Cyberspace, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, Australia;
H2O—A Study of Art History, Osage Contemporary Art and Ideas, Hong Kong
2006
Urban Landscape, John Hope Franklin Centre of Duke University, USA;
A Birdview, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Shanghai, China;
The Last Judgment in Cyberspace, Walsh Gallery, Chicago
2004
Phantasmagoria—Photographs by Miao Xiaochun, Walsh Gallery, Chicago
2002
Linger, Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne, Switzerland
2001
From East to West and Back to East, Museum of CAFA, Beijing, China
1999
Kulturbegegnungen, Galerie Stellwerk, Kassel
1994
Miao Xiaochun, Beijing Art Museum and Shanghai Art Museum
1992
Miao Xiaochun, National Museum of Chinese History, Beijing
1991
Miao Xiaochun: Recents Works, Beijing Art Museum
1988
Miao Xiaochun’s Paintings, Gallery of CAFA, Beijing
Group exhibitions
2013
55th Venice Biennale, The Chinese Pavilion, Venice, Italy
Move on Asia-Video Art 2002 to 2012, ZKM, Karlshure, Germany
Nothing to declare? – World Maps of Art since 89, Academy of the Arts Berlin, Germany
2012
The World of Soul: As Virtual Artistic Engineering, First Shenzhen Independent Animation Biennale, B10 Art Center, Shenzhen
The 7th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art- Mountains and Waters: Chinese Animation Since the 1930s, Queensland Art Gallery l Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia
Conceptual Renewal – Short History of Chinese Contemporary Photographical Art, Si Shang Art Museum, Beijing
Chinese Contemporary Public Art, Kassel, Germany
The Unseen, Main Exhibition of The 4th Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Transformation: A View on Chinese Contemporary Art, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul, Turkey
Architecture China-The 100 Contemporary Projects, Reiss-EngelhornMuseen(REM), Mannheim, Germany
Go figure! Contemporary Chinese Portraiture, National Portrait Gallery and The Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Canberra and Sydney, Australia
Height, The First Xinjiang Contemporary Art Biennale, Ürümqi International Exhibition Center
Whatever You Want—New Media Show, Kara Kitchen, Beijing, China
ARSENALE 2012, The 1st Kyiv International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Kyiv, Ukraine
Photo España—Image Anxiety, Fundación Telefónica, Madrid, Spain
Future Pass, Wereldmuseum, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan; Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Beijing Index, Digital Art Museum, Art Beijing 2012
2011
The Global Contemporary. Kunstwelten nach 1989(Art Worlds after 1989), ZKM, Germany
The 54th Venice Biennale—Future Pass, Venice, Italy
Limitless, Arario Gallery, Beijing
New Horizon—Contemporary Chinese Art, The National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Australia
Meta-Question Back to The Museum Per Se, Inauguration Exhibition of The 4th Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
30 Years of Contemporary Chinese Art—Moving image in China 1988-2011, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai
Spectrum, Chinese Independent Animation, A4 Contemporary Arts Center, Chengdu, China
Verso Est. Chinese Architectural Landscapes, MAXXI, Rome, Italy
Representation of Realistic Art—The 5th Chengdu Biennale 2011, Chengdu Contemporary Art Museum, Chengdu, China
Move on Asia - The End of Video Art, Casa Asia, Barcelona, Spain
New Age, New Media, exhibition tour in Ten Cities of China and Australia
“Dual senses" and "Dynamic views”— Contemporary Art Exhibition across the Taiwan Straits of 2011, NAMOC, Beijing; Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts(TMOA)
A Decade of the Rabbit, White Rabbit Museum, Sydney, Australia
Magic Spaces, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2010
A Fresh Look at Chinese Landscapes, Galerie Moderne Chinesische Malerei des Museums für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin, Germany
Mediators, The National Museum in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Negotiations—The Second Today's Documents, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Made in Korea, China and Japan(Made in Pop Land), National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea
Reshaping History—Chinart from 2000-2009, National Conference Center, Beijing, China
DIGIFESTA—Speed of Earth ‘2010 km/second, see’, Gwangju Museum of Art, Korea
2009
Beijing Time, Casa Asia, Matadero Madrid; Santiago Art Museum, Spain
Guangzhou Photo Biennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Animamix Biennial: Metaphors of Un/real, MoCa Shanghai, China
Open Vision—Chinese Contemporary Art, Czech National Gallery, Prague
Next Nature, National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
Vistas | Vision of U-City, Incheon International Digital Art Festival, Incheon, Korea
Nature | Nation, Museum on the Seam | Social-Political Contemporary Art Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
The Dream Machine, The Niterói Contemporary Art Museum, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Spectacle—to Each His Own, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei
2008
Images in the night, Le Grand Palais, Paris, France
Expenditure, Busan Biennale, Busan MoMA, Korea
Up: Chinese Contemporary Art, Singapore Art Museum
Mediations, Poznan Biennale, Poland
China: Construction—Deconstruction, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil
Go China—New World Order, Present day Installation Art and Photography, Groninger Museum, Groningen, the Netherlands
Re-Imagining Asia, The House of World Cultures, Berlin, Germany; The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall, UK
China Design Now, 2008-2010, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio, USA; Portland Museum of Art, Oregon, USA
China Gold, Museum Maillol, Paris, France
Synthetic Times: Media Art China 2008—International Media Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing
55 Days in Valencia, Institut Valencia d’Art Modern, Spain
2007
China—Facing Reality, Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation Vienna, Austria; National Art Museum of China, Beijing
China Now, Cobra Museum of Modern Art, Amstelveen, the Netherlands
Energy: Spirit • Body • Material—1st Today’s Documents, Today Art Museum, Beijing
Red Hot: Contemporary Asian Art Rising, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, USA
Floating—New Generation of Art in China, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea
Thermocline of Art-New Asian Waves, ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany
New Directions from China: China New Media Art, Plug.in, Basel, Switzerland
Contemporary Photography from China. Zhuyi! China!, ARTIUM, Centro-Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporaneo; Palau de la Virreina, Barcelona, Spain
Made in China, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark; Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
2006
Media City Seoul 2006, The 4th Seoul International Media Art Biennale, Korea
SUSI: Key to Chinese Art Today, Metropolitan Museum, Manila, the Philippines
China now—Art at a time of transformation, Essl Museum, Austria
Totalstadt: Beijing case, ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany
New Urban Reality: Chinese Contemporary Art, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
2005
Scapes: The Century and Paradise, 2nd Chengdu Biennale, China
Mahjong—Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, 2005-2009, Art Museum Bern, Switzerland; Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany; Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Austria;UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive(BAM & PFA), Berkeley, California, USA; The Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, USA
Re-Viewing the City, Guangzhou Photo Biennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, China
2004
Between Past and Future—New Photography and Video from China, 2004-2006, International Center of Photography and Asia Society, New York, USA; Smart Museum of Art and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, USA; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany
Spellbound Aura—The new vision of Chinese Photography, Museum of
Contemporary Art, Taipei
2003
Me and More, Museum of Art Lucerne, Switzerland
Encounter, Museum of CAFA, Beijing; Liu Haisu Museum, Shanghai, China
Left hand, right handA Sino German Exhibition of Contemporary Art, 798 Art Space, Beijing, China
2002
Urban Creation, The 4th Shanghai Biennale 2002, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Media City Seoul 2002, The 2nd Seoul International Media Art Biennale, Korea
China—Tradition and Modern, Ludwig Museum, Oberhausen, Germany
Golden Harvest—Chinese Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia
1991
The First Annual Exhibition of Chinese Oil Paintings, The National Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, China
References
External links
, Miao Xiaochun Studio]
Miao Xiaochun, Saatchi Gallery]
Miao Xiaochun at 88MoCCA - The Museum of Chinese contemporary art on the web
Miao Xiaochun, F2 Gallery
Miao Xiaochun, Walsh Gallery
Miao Xiaochun, Alexander Ochs Galleries
"Miao Xiaochun at Eli Klein Fine Art"
Living people
1964 births
Chinese photographers
Central Academy of Fine Arts alumni
Artists from Wuxi