K11 Art Foundation

Born in 1981 in Mongolia, China, the artist participated in the artist residence programme at the Royal Academy of Visual Arts in the Netherlands from 2013 to 2014. He founded the art space, Martin Goya Business, in 2017.

As a representative of China’s new generation of video and cross-media artist, Cheng Ran has been trying different art forms including film, poetry, drama, novel, and installation, etc. Relying on his vibrant mindset, sometimes detached and more often experimental spirit, he is especially good at changing the sense of space, structure and one’s conception towards the original object by undefined use of materials. The switch between texts and visual language created by the artist, allows the audience floating between the reality and the imagination, presenting the poetics of nihilism. In fact, the artist re-patches aesthetic elements as such into his own unique artistic language. His works in general reflect on the existential state of Chinese young generation under the impact of political and cultural globalisation. From these works, we can see that the artist doesn’st pay much attention on the issue of  “identity”, but more on discovering new values from diverse cultures brought by globalisation. It seems that the artist’s self-judgment can’t be easily spotted, while this largely speaks of his autonomy in artistic creation. We can also find this distinguished feature in many of Cheng Ran’s works, which always reflect his deep thoughts on universal themes including the boundary, distinction, and even confrontation, marginalisation, etc. in an all-round way.

Cheng Ran’s works have been featured in numerous biennials, group exhibitions and film festivals, including Sydney Opera house (2019); FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art:An American City (2018); Art Institute of Chicago, 2017; the 63^rd International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (2017); China Remixed Initiative at The Media School of the University of Indiana, (2017); Time Test: International Video Art Research Exhibition at CAFA Art Museum, Beijing (2016); SALTWATER: a Theory of Thought Forms, the 14^th Istanbul Biennial (2015); When I Give, I Give Myself at Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam(2015); Inside China: L'intérieur du Géant at chi K11 art museum, Shanghai(2015),K11 Art Foundation Pop-Up Space, Hong Kong(2015), and Palais de Tokyo, Paris(2014); the 8^th Shenzhen Sculpture Biennale,(2014); Decorum: Carpets and tapestries by artists at Power Station of Art, Shanghai,(2014); ON|OFF: China’s Young Artists in Concept and Practice at Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2013); the 26^th European Media Art Festival at Osnabruck(2013); Video Art in China-MADATAC at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2011); the 3^th Guangzhou Triennial at  (2008); and the 2^ndChinese New Media Art Festival at China Academy of Art, Hangzhou (2004).

For the presentation of Inside China in Paris, Cheng Ran’s video Joss (2013) was projected on the façade of the Palais de Tokyo.

Cheng Ran’s recent solo exhibitions include New Museum, New York; Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing; Tel Aviv Museum of Art; MAC, Belfast; K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong.

Awards

·       Nomura Emerging Artist Award 2019

·       Best Director at Madrid Video Art Festival 2017

·       Nominated for China’s Best Young Artist Award by AAC Arts, 2015 and 2016

·       Selected for the Pierre Huber Prize 2015

·       Nominated for the Stockholm Absolut Art Award 2015

·       Named as the Best Young Video Artist by the Ran Dian Magazine 2014

 

Collections

M+, Hong Kong; K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong; DSL Collection, France; Domus Collection, New York; New Century Art Foundation, Beijing; White Rabbit Gallery, Australia; Guangdong Museum of Art; Shanghai Museum of Art; Zhejiang Museum of Art; Borusan Kocabıyık Foundation, Turkey; the Walther Collection, Germany; the Royal Academy of Visual Arts, the Netherlands; and Erlenmeyer Foundation, Switzerland, etc.