Qiu Zhijie (邱志杰; born 1969) is a contemporary

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

artist who works primarily in

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

and

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

. Overall, Qiu's work suggests the struggle between the forces of destiny and self-assertion. Other common themes are social fragmentation and transience. Qiu was born in 1969 in

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

province. In 1992, he graduated from the printmaking department at

Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts The China Academy of Art (CAA; ) is a provincial public college of fine arts in Hangzhou. Zhejiang, China. It is affiliated with the Province of Zhejiang. The academy is part of the Double First-Class Construction The World First-Class Un ...

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

. He now lives and works in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. The artist's break-through exhibition was in 1992 with '' China's New Art, Post-1989'' at the Hanart Gallery and

Hong Kong Arts Centre Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC; ) is a non-profit arts institution and art museum established in 1977. It promotes contemporary performing arts, visual arts, film and video arts. It also provides arts education. Its rival is the government-managed ...

. By 1999, his work began receiving overseas interest with his inclusion in ''Revolutionary Capitals: Beijing-London'' at the

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 2007 he had his first solo exhibition in the United States at the New York gallery

Chambers Fine Art Chambers Fine Art is an art gallery based in New York City and Beijing that specializes in Chinese Chinese art, contemporary art. Opened in New York in 2000 by Christophe Mao. Notable Chinese artists who had their first solo show in the United St ...

. In 2005, his work was exhibited in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

's ''Between Past And Future: New Photography And Video From China'', including ''Tattoo 1'', which explores Qiu's assertion that in our media-saturated age, "signs and codes have overpowered actual human beings, and our bodies have become merely their vehicles." The character bu — meaning "no" — is written across the artist's body and on the wall behind him, creating the illusion that it floats free of the body.

Life and work

Qiu was born in 1969 in

province, China. He graduated from the printmaking department of the

in 1992. Soon after, he was developing his technical and conceptual skills, as seen in his graduate work ''A New Life'' (1992). The installation featured 16 glass panels of different sizes on which texts, slogans, and figures were printed. The installation create a translucent labyrinth from these panels, which allowed the audience to take part in the work as their bodies filled the clear sections of the glass panels. Qiu's work in ''A New Life'' developed the basis for later works including ''Bathroom'' (1997) and his ''Tattoo'' series (1994). The ''Tattoo'' series in particular further explored the concept of free-floating symbols and words that were imposed on the individual. The imposition of the external world onto the individual for better or worse is also featured in his ''Rainbow'' photography series. Beyond symbols, icons, and external pressures, Qiu has explored the concept of transience in many of his works. His ''Baguo'' series of photographs, for instance, displays scenes of streets with market stalls and buildings, but the streets are filled with ghostly half-transparent roaming figures. These "ghosts" imply a sense that they are coming and going but never stationary enough to make a lasting impression, as the buildings have. His ''Propagator in the Darkness'' lithograph also presents this theme. The lithograph displays a skeleton shouting through a megaphone inside a bell. Regarding this work, Qiu has said "No one can see him or hear him, but he's still showing his propaganda slogan. For me this is about sounds disappearing, about the past disappearing. Whether it's good or not, we don't know. It's quite a complicated feeling." According to Qiu in an interview from 2001, the most significant turning point in his career was his work producing the installation ''Public Life/Glass Toilet'' (1994), which led to an ongoing interest in revealing the otherwise obscured practices of art production. Qiu is an accomplished author of Art theory books. his published books include as “Image and Post-modernism”, “Give Me A Mask”, “The Boundary of Freedom”, “The Scene is Most Important”, “Photography After Photography”, and “Basic Course in Total Art Creation”. Qiu is currently a professor at the School of Inter-media Art of China Art Academy, the Director of Total Art Studio and member of the supervisor team in the Art and Social Thoughts Institute. He also curated "Phenomena and Image" in 1996, a series of exhibitions with the theme of “Post-sense Sensibility” between 1999 and 2004, “Long March, A Walking Visual Display” in 2002, and the video portion of the First Guangzhou Triennial and “Archeology of Future: The Second Triennial of Chinese Art” in 2005. Qiu has been teaching in the Total Art Studio of

China Academy of Art The China Academy of Art (CAA; ) is a provincial public college of fine arts in Hangzhou. Zhejiang, China. It is affiliated with the Province of Zhejiang. The academy is part of the Double First-Class Construction The World First-Class Un ...

since 2003. He has proposed ways to develop the concept of “total art” in both formal academic and professional contexts.

Exhibitions

The following is a list of solo exhibitions that Qiu has created. He has participated in many more exhibitions in groups. * 2018 - Qiu Zhijie: Living Writing.

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa The is a museum of contemporary art located in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan. The museum was designed by Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the architectural office SANAA in 2004. In October 2005, one year after its openin ...

Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Etymology The name "Kanazaw ...

, Japan * 2011 - Qiu Zhijie: DEJA VU. Hanart TZ Gallery,

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

* 2009 - Mochou.

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, United States * 2009 - A Suicidology of The Nanjing Yangzi River Bridge 3 - Breaking through the ice. UCCA,

* 2008 - A Suicidology of The Nanjing Yangzi River Bridge 1 -Ataraxic of Zhuang Zi. Shanghai

Zendai Museum of Modern Art Shanghai Himalayas Museum ( zh, 上海喜玛拉雅美术馆), formerly known as Shanghai Zendai MoMA (), is a privately funded, non-profit art institute in Pudong, Shanghai, China, focusing on art exhibition, education, collection, research and ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

* 2008 - A Suicidology of The Nanjing Yangzi River Bridge 1. The Singapore Tyler Print Institute,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

* 2008 - The Bridge, Nanjing, Under the Heaven. The Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore * 2008 - Mochou.

, Beijing * 2008 - The Bridge, Nanjing, Under the Heaven. Hanart Gallery, Hong Kong * 2008 - Nanjing : A bridge, A City. Guanxiang Art Center,

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

* 2007 - The Shape of Time.

, New York City, United States * 2007 - Cryptogram. Hanart Gallery, Hong Kong * 2007 - Archeology of Memory. Long March Space, Beijing * 2006 - Let there be Light. Grace Li Gallery,

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland * 2005 - Light and Words. Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong * 2005 - Melancholy Man. Gallery Loft,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France * 2005 - Black and White Zoo. Gallery of

Dartington Art Academy Dartington is a village in Devon, England. Its population is 876. The electoral ward of ''Dartington'' includes the surrounding area and had a population of 1,753 at the 2011 census. It is located to the west of the River Dart, south of Darti ...

, United Kingdom * 2004 - Social Portrait. Courtyard Gallery, Beijing, China * 2003-2004 - Asian Parallel Times.

Hong Kong Art Museum The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) is the first and one of the main art museums of Hong Kong, located in located in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, near the Victoria Harbour waterfront, providing a scenic view of Hong Kong’s skyline. It is a publ ...

, Hong Kong, Casa Asia,

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain, & Shenzhen Art Institute,

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

, China * 2003 - UFO: Qiu Zhijie's Photography/Calligraphy. Gallery Loft, Paris, France * 2001 - Qiu Zhijie. Gallery Gen,

Koshigaya is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 345,353 in 158,022 households and a population density of 5700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is famous for producing daruma dolls. ...

, Japan * 2001 - Invisibility: Qiu Zhijie. Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York City, United States * 2000 - Touch. Orient Foundation,

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

* 1999 - Calendar 1998. Gallery of the

Central Academy of Fine Arts The Central Academy of Fine Arts or CAFA is an art academy under the direct charge of the Ministry of Education of China. The Manila Bulletin calls the school "China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy." It is considered one of the most ...

, Beijing, China * 1999 - Innate Forces – Mixed Media: Works by Qiu Zhijie. Art Beatus Gallery,

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada * 1997 - Logic: 5 Video-Installations. Gallery of the

, Beijing, China

References

External links

Personal homepageQiu Zhijie: Twilight of the IdolsInterview with Qiu Zhijie - The Ullens Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qiu, Zhijie Chinese contemporary artists Living people 1969 births Artists from Fujian

Life and work

Exhibitions

See also

References

External links