Tattoo II
Qiu Zhijie
Memory, the Body and Transformations of Reality: Contemporary Chinese Photography, 1990–2010
Group exhibition
Opening: Thursday 5 November 2026 à 17:00
Between 1990 and 2010, China underwent profound economic, social and cultural transformations. Rapid urbanisation, the rise of consumer society and intensifying international exchanges reshaped landscapes and ways of life. Against the backdrop of the legacy of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and the suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, this period saw photography emerge as a key space for experimentation and reflection on Chinese society.
Bringing together works by Qiu Zhijie, Wang Qingsong, Weng Fen, Rong Rong, Lin Tianmiao, Han Lei, Chen Man, Hong Hao, Huang Yan, Hai Bo, Sheng Qi and Wang Jin, the exhibition explores the diversity of contemporary photographic practices in China. At the intersection of documentary photography, performance and staged imagery, the artists examine the construction of identity, urban transformation and the circulation of cultural models.
The body becomes a site of inscription and transformation, the landscape bears witness to territorial upheaval, while everyday objects reflect the rise of consumer society. Some works evoke places that have disappeared, juxtapose different temporalities or revisit symbols of Chinese history.
Rather than offering a single narrative of contemporary China, these works reveal a plurality of experiences and imaginaries. They demonstrate that photography does more than record reality: it constructs it, questions it and exposes its contradictions.
Late opening: Thursday, 5 November, 5–8 pm
Artists
Qiu Zhijie
Qiu Zhijie is born in Fujian Province in China in 1969. In 1992 he graduated from The National Academy Of Fine Art and he works in the printmaking department. But now he lives in Beijing as a full-time artist. As well as an art critic and curator.
Huang Yan
Born in 1966 in Jilin, China. Living in Beijing, China. Huang Yan graduated from the Changchun Teachers Academy in 1987. Since 1994, he has recorded his ideas and behavioral art through oil painting and photography. In 1999, Huang Yan began a series of landscape paintings on the human body entitled “Chinese Landscapes”, in which he tatooes his own body to reference a heritage that is inherent in Chinese culture, these traditional landscape paintings which have become the embodiment of Chinese art.
Rong Rong
Rongrong is a Chinese artist born in 1968 in Zhangzhou in China in the province of Fujian. He will begin his career in 1992 as a photographer within the department of the industrial center of art of Beijing. A year later, RongRong will live in the city of Dashanzhuang in China which will be renamed … Continued
Lin Tianmiao
Born in 1961 in Taiyuan, China. Living and working in Beijing. Part of the “apartment art” generation, Lin Tianmiao is one of the first contemporary Chinese artists to achieve international recognition. In the early 1990s Lin Tianmiao returned to Beijing after several years in New York, and established herself within the experimental scene of the capital.
Chen Man
Vogue, Elle, Bazaar, Marie-Claire, Cosmopolitan, Officiel, Esquire, Madame Figaro China… none could do without her and her instantly recognizable photos. Chen Man has also produced advertising campaigns in China for Lancôme, Motorola, Adidas, Nike, Max Factor and L'Oréal. Through her unique aesthetic, she now explores contemporary themes, always inspired by traditional elements of China, which allow her to decipher today's society from the inside.
Sheng QI
Sheng Qi is a contemporary artist born in 1989 in China at Anhui. He began his career by studying at the prestigious art academy of Beaux-Arts in China. But why is he famous? At first, he was recognised as the precursor of performance in China. He was brilliant in this domain. So he won prizes … Continued
Wang Jin
Wang Jin was born in Datong, in the Chinese province of Liaoning. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1987, where he specialized in traditional Chinese painting. Wang Jin lives and works in Beijing and exhibits regularly in many countries.
Wang Qingsong
Wang Qingsong is born in Hubei Province, China. He graduated from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Chengdu, Sichuan.