Shen Shaomin
Shen Shaomin was born in 1956 in Heilongjiang Province, China. Shaomin studies the explicit brutality of human nature through his multimedia works. His artistic research includes the realization of experimental kinetic sculptures made from animal bones and is born from the conflict between the artist and the Anthropocene. These works want to represent the consequences of human desire and artificiality.
Shaomins research continues with resin works where he chooses to produce sleeping animal and human figures, which leads the observer to reflect upon reality and imagination. Among his most recent works are those of the Handle With Care series where the artist reproduces on canvas, bubble wrap packaging that seem to wrap famous works of modern art, by making use of the trompe l'oeil technique. This series originates from Shaomin's studies on the greatest exponent of American Pop Art, Andy Warhol, who used to work on his artworks following an industrial process. In 2012, Shaomin opened his Beijing studio to young Australian artists with the aim of promoting a better relationship of cultural and artistic exchange between China and Australia.
There are several exhibitions dedicated to Shen Shaomin and many group exhibitions in which he has participated. His works are exhibited in several international private and museum collections. Shen Shaomin lives and works between Sydney and Beijing.
2019
Chinese Carp, The Mountain View, Oct-Loft, Shenzhen, China
2018
This side up: FRAGILE, Mucciaccia Contemporary, Rome
2017
Keep Upright, Klein Sun Gallery, New York, United States
2015
There is no problem, Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art, Guangzhou, China
Handle With Care, Klein Sun Gallery, New York, United States
2014
So What, Breeze, White Box Museum of Art, Beijing, China
2013
I Touched the Voice of God, Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, United States
2011
The Day After Tomorrow, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney, Australia
2010
Distortion, Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, United States
One Monk Temple, ARTCHANNEL, Beijing, China
2008
Experimental Studio, Frey Norris Gallery, San Francisco, United States
Shen Shaomin: Unassailable (Activated Organism), Osage Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
2007
Project No.1—Solo Exhibition of Shaomin SHEN, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Kowtow Pump, Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
Bonsai, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing, China
Fighter-X, Platform China, Beijing, China
2006
Scary Monsters, Osage Contemporary Art Space, Hong Kong, China
2005
Creature Factory, Urs Meile Gallery, Lucerne, Switzerland
2001
Transplantation, Asia-Australia Art Centre, Sydney, Australia
1995
Dialogue, East & West Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2019
中国私语 Chinese Whispers, Recent Art from the Sigg Collection, curated by Bärbel Vischer, MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria
2018
Capital@Art.International, Ost-Stern, Frankfurt, Germany
2017
Hong Kong: Encounters 2017, Art Basel, Hong Kong, China
Almost There, Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Fields of Communion - The 4th Shenzhen Public Sculpture Exhibition, Shenzhen Central Park, Shenzhen, China, Art Busan, Busan, South Korea
2016
East Bridge 2015-2016: Plastic Garden, Korean & Chinese Contemporary Art, Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
Busan Biennale, Busan, South Korea
Chinese Whispers: Recent Art from the Sigg and M+ Collections, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
The Layered Image, Institute for Curatorial Practice at Hampshire College, Hampshire College online exhibition
The Archer of Autumn Grove Crossing, The Decameron – BMCA Documenting Art, Wenyu River, Wenyu, China
2015
East Bridge 2015-2016: Plastic Garden, Korean & Chinese Contemporary Art, 798 Art Factory, Beijing, China
Immortal Present: Art and East Asia, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, United States
Civilization Round III: Jiang Ling, Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, Hubei, China
Peers, Shan Hai Museum, Beijing, China
Open Sea, Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France
After Utopia: Revisiting the Ideal in Asian Contemporary Art, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Go East, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
2014
Xinjiang Biennale, Urumqi, China
Fusion Convergence, T Museum, Hangzhou, China
Start - International Exhibition of the Chinese Contemporary Ceramic Art, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2013
Serve the People, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Hot Pot: A Taste of Contemporary Chinese Art, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, Vermont, United States
Individual Growth – Momentum of Contemporary Art, Tianjin Art Museum, Tianjin, China
A Better Tomorrow, Yan Club Arts Center, Beijing, China
2012
Go Figure! Contemporary Chinese Portraiture, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Paddington, Australia
The 9th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
The 4th Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangdong, China
Busan Biennale, Busan Museum of Art, Busan, South Korea
The First Kiev International Biennale of Contemporary Art, Kiev, Ukraine
2011
An Ode to Discernment, Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, United States
Mutation, 798 Art Bridge Gallery, Beijing, China
Flora and Fauna: MAD about Nature, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, United States
Scenes from Within: Contemporary Art from China, Blackbridge Hall Art Gallery, Georgia College, Milledgeville, United States
BAD Exhibition, Pin Gallery, Beijing, China
2010
Absolute Distance, White Space, Beijing, China; MK2 Art Space, Beijing, China
Myriad Things, Himalayas Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Last Words, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney, Australia
17th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Dead or Alive, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, United States
2009
NatureNation, Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem, Israel
Human Nature, Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria
The Home Court: An Exhibition of Contemporary Art, White Box Museum of Art, Beijing, China
A Conversation with Chicago: Contemporary Sculptures from China, Millennium Park, Chicago, United States
I Want Talk to You: Film & Video Show, T. Art Center, Beijing, China
China China China!!! - Contemporary Chinese Art Beyond the Global Market, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom
Zhong Jian: Midway, Wollongong City Gallery Traveling Exhibition, China and Australia
Re-Imagining Asia: A Thousand Years of Separation, The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall, United Kingdom
19GAME, T. Art Center, Beijing, China
2008
Shen Shaomin and Zhang Dali, Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, United States
Intrude: Art & Life 366, Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
China Independent Film Festival, South Visual Art Museum, Nanjing, China
Hunting Birds, Tang Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China
The Inside & Outside Art History, Found Art Museum, Beijing, China
Shanghai MoCA Envisage II-Butterfly Dream, MoCA Shanghai, Shanghai, China
China Contemporary Art Triennial, Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China
China Contemporary Art Biennale 2008, Yuangong Museum, Shanghai, China
2D/3D Negotiating Visual Languages, PKM Gallery, Beijing, China
Beyond Reminiscence, Beijing Center for the Arts, Beijing, China
Chinese Gardens For Living, National Art Collection Museum, Dresden, Germany
Portraying Food, Walsh Gallery, Chicago, United States
Critical Moment, OV Gallery, Shanghai, China
New World Order, Groningen Museum, Groningen, Netherlands
Re-imagining Asia, House of World Culture, Berlin, Germany
China China China - Contemporary Chinese Art Beyond the Global Market, Museo di Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy
Let’s Consume, Xin Dong Cheng Space for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
New Vista, White Space, Beijing, China
Inter Electrode Horizon, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China; Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
2007
The Power of the Universe-the Frontier of Contemporary Chinese Art, Asia Art Center, Beijing, China
Destination-Installation Art Exhibition, Oriental Vista Art Collections, Shanghai, China
Soft Power - Asian Attitude, Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
Wild Beast, Gallery Mook, Beijing, China
To Get Down to Brass Tacks, Osage Art Space, Shanghai, China
Thermocline of Art: New Asian Waves, ZKM Museum, Karlsruhe, Germany
A Vision of the Future, Osage Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2006
Floweriness, Song Zhuang Art Museum, Beijing, China
Double-kick cracker, Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
Susi: Key to Chinese Art Today, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Manila, Philippines
Liverpool Biennial 2006, Liverpool, United Kingdom
From Polar Region to Tie Xi Qu –Exhibition of Contemporary Art in Northeast, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangdong, China
Endless Clone, Space Leum, Beijing, China
Singapore Contemporary Art Show, Esplanade, Singapore
2005
The Second Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
Grounding Reality - Chinese Contemporary Art, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
Two Asias, Two Europes, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
Ten Thousand Years, Postmodern City, Beijing, China
Hanover Art fair, Kunsthalle Faust, Hanover, Germany
Unusual Scene, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
City Net Asia 2005, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Mahjong Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
2004
Is it what?, Shaanxi Provincial Art Museum, Xi’an, China
The 1st Architectural Biennial, Beijing, China
Asian Traffic, Asia-Australia Art Centre, Sydney, Australia
2003
Open Sky, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
Left Wing, Left Bank Community, Beijing, China
Alternative Modernity, X-Ray Art Centre, Beijing, China
Düsseldorf Art Exhibition, Museum Kunst Palast, Ehrenhof, Düsseldorf, Germany
Science Fictions, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Beijing Shan Hai Art Museum, Beijing, China
Droga 8 Collection, Sydney, Australia
Heilongjiang Art Museum, Harbin, China
Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, United States
M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong, China
Museum of Arts and Design, New York, United States
Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia
The Red Mansion Foundation, London, United Kingdom
The Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney, Australia
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
White Rabbit Collection, Sydney, Australia
Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art, Guangzhou, China