Zhao Yao

Zhao Yao
China

Zhao Yao, born in Sichuan in 1981, graduated from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 2004 and currently lives and works in Beijing. Zhao has been attracting wide and increasing attention in the contemporary art scene in China since 2005. His solo exhibitions include 51m2: 3# Zhao Yao (Taikang Space, Beijing, 2010); five major solo exhibitions in Beijing Commune (Beijing, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2018, and 2022); Zhao Yao: Spirit Above All (Pace Gallery, London, 2013); Zhao Yao: Painting of Thought (Pace Gallery, Hong Kong, 2015); The Power of Nature: A Ten Thousand Square Meter Painting in Beijing (Workers’ Stadium, Beijing, 2018). His works have been exhibited extensively around the world, including the Tate Modern, London; the Whitechapel Gallery, London; Museum Bojimans Van Beuningen, Netherlands; Palais de Tokyo, France; Fremantle Arts Centre, Australia; The Rubell Family Collection, USA; Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, USA; Pinchuk Art Center, Ukraine; ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Germany; Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing; UCCA Dune Art Museum, Qinhuangdao; CAFA Art Museum, Beijing; Minsheng Art Museum; Sifang Art Museum; OCAT Shanghai; Rockbund Art Museum Shanghai.

Signals from others, signals from others

Wood, nail, fabric, plastic film, sound,text

132 × 97 × 100 cm × 4

2022


These small box-shaped huts were removed from western Sichuan, bearing rich traces of long exposure to their natural environment. At the end of each year, villagers would build such huts for their self-cultivation and meditation. By bringing these simplest “spaces” to the exhibition hall, with the serendipitous materials acquired while working on the plateau, the artist superimposes multiple traces of spiritual activities onto each other, and invites the audience to enter the huts, reflecting and appreciating together.

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