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He Chengyao

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He Chengyao
何成瑤
Born1964
Sichuan, China
Alma materCentral Academy of Fine Arts
Known forPerformance artist

He Chengyao (Chinese: 何成瑤; born 1964) is a Chinese artist residing in Beijing, China. Her artwork explores nudity, mental illness, memory, and mother-daughter relationships through performance, photography, and video.[1] He's work has been widely exhibited in China, Italy, Japan, South Korea, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Biography

He was born in 1964 in the Sichuan province in China. He's parents worked in a pottery factory in Rongchang (present-day Chongqing) and, when He was conceived, the factory ordered He's parents to have an abortion because they were unmarried. However, they decided to keep her and as a result He's parents were both fired. He's mother was nineteen when she gave birth to He and the couple subsequently had two more children.[1]

During He's childhood, the Cultural Revolution gained momentum and He's father was imprisoned for his political views. This left He's mother to raise the children on her own. Having faced years of humiliation from giving birth out of wedlock, He's mother was left with no job and a jailed husband and began suffering from considerable mental distress. He's mother started to strip in public, causing her children discomfort and shame. He speculates that her mother was predisposed to mental illness as her grandfather also suffered from similar mental distress.[1]

He taught mathematics at an elementary school for three years before attending the Sichaun Fine Art University in 1989.[2] In 2001, He graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.[3]

Art work

Although He initially specialized in oil paintings, she is now predominantly focused on performance art. He states that her artistic shift was abrupt and occurred during a visit to the Great Wall of China: she spontaneously enacted a performance by taking off her top and walking partially nude among German artist H.A. Schult's installations.[4] The photograph of her performance is titled "Opening the Great Wall".[1]

He's work consciously highlights the role mental illness has played in her life and her family's history.[4] Although her performances are frequently considered transgressive and are frowned upon by many including He's friends and teachers, this only reaffirms He's belief in the necessity of her work as both an intensely powerful form of self-expression and a challenge against social stigmas surrounding mental illness.[1] Critics have also stressed how He's performance work engages with feminism, body politics, and nationalist and transnational issues.[2][5]

Solo exhibitions[3]

  • "The Extension of Limbs" - Juhua Gallery, Shanghai (2007)
  • He Chengyao Performance Photo Exhibition - Soobin Art Gallery, Singapore (2004)
  • "Performance Art He Chengyao" - One World Art Center, Beijing (2003)
  • "He Chengyao Oil Painting" - Qinhao Gallery, Beijing (2000)

Group exhibitions[3]

  • "Chain" - CAC, Manchester (2007)
  • "Global Feminisms" - Brooklyn Museum, New York (2007)
  • "Out from XiNan" - Guangdong Museum, Guangzhou (2007)
  • Performance Art Documentations from China - SUMU Titanik Gallery, Turku (2006)
  • International Exhibitionist - Curzon Soho Cinema, London (2006)
  • Cruel/Loving Bodies - Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong (2006)
  • "Vital", International Chinese Live Art Festival - Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Manchester (2006)
  • "Loft of Language" - ThreeQuarters Art Gallery, Beijing (2005)
  • "The Magic Lantern" - Galway Arts Center, Ireland (2005)
  • Changing Faces - Taipei Artist Village (2005)
  • "Transborder Language" - Beijing Tokyo Art Projects, Beijing (2005)
  • "The Wall" - Millennium Art Museum, Beijing / University of Buffalo Art Galleries, New York (2005)
  • "Making Relationships" - Taipei Art Museum & Gaoxiong Art Museum, Taipei (2005)
  • Asian Women's Art - Tokyo Joshibi University's Art Museum, Tokyo (2004)
  • Spellbound Auro-The New Vision of Chinese Photography - Taipei Modern Art Museum, Taipei (2004)
  • 14th Recontre Internationale Art Performance Quebec - Le Lieu Centre Art , Quebec City / Clark Gallery, Montreal (2004)
  • 798 Photographic Memory Exhibition - 798 Art Zone, Beijing (2004)
  • The Future of Imagination 2: International Performance Art Event, Singapore (2004)
  • Listen to Men's Story From Women - 798 Art Zone, Beijing (2003)
  • 5th International Performance Art Festival - Bangkok (2003)
  • "The Limits of Bodies" - Shangrila Culture and Art Center, Beijing (2002)
  • "Dream02" - OXO Gallery and Barge House, UK (2002)
  • "Dialogue Puzzle" - Padua Youth Museum, Padua (2001)

See Also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Tatlow, Didi Kirsten. "'She. Herself. Naked.': The Art of He Chengyao". Sinosphere Blog. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  2. ^ a b "Brooklyn Museum: Chengyao He". www.brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  3. ^ a b c He, Chengyao. "He Chengyao CV" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  4. ^ a b culturebase.net. "Cheng Yao He artist portrait - culturebase.net". www.culturebase.net. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  5. ^ "Perspective Project". www.perspectiveproject.ro. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
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