Introduction

Shi Yong is a representative figure of contemporary Chinese artists who first started working with installation and video media. Since 1993, his works have been widely exhibited both in China and abroad. His artworks cover a wide range of mediums including performance, video, and installation. Shi Yong’s earliest artistic practices focused on revealing the subtlety of our reality and the inherent tension of the "system". At the end of the 1990s, Shi began focusing on the idea of Shanghai’s transformations under the Chinese economic reform, which contributed to a discussion of globalization and consumerism. Since 2006, with the piece "Sorry, There will be no Documenta in 2007", he turned his attention to the art world that he's been involved in, pondering how to provide a more rational perspective through his creative works. Shi Yong’s 2015 solo exhibition "Let All Potential Be Internally Resolved Using Beautiful Form" continues his art practice, disclosing his intention to expand the reflection and practice of “control” under the seemingly “abstract” future.    

Shi Yong was born in Shanghai in 1963. He graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Shanghai Light Industrial School. He now resides and works in Shanghai. Shi Yong has been exhibited widely since the early 1990s. Recent shows include Travellers Mirror Cities, MoCA, Shanghai (2024); M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story, M+ Museum (2023); I've Forgotten the Question (solo exhibition), WS Gallery, Shanghai (2023); Cruel Youth Diary: Chinese Photography and Video from the Haudenschild Collection, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2023); Turning Inward, Until Disappearing (Solo Exhibition), ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai (2021); Duration: Chinese Art in Transformation, Beijing Mingsheng Art Museum, Beijing (2020); A Fairy Tale in Red Times, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2019); Nothing is Impossible (Solo Exhibition), Yellspace, Shanghai (2018); A ( ) Bird be Released from the Top of a Certain Tower (Solo Exhibition), Boxes Art Museum, Foshan (2018); This is Shanghai, Chinese Contemporary Art, Liverpool (2018); Shi Yong: Under the Rule, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai (2017); Let All Potential be Internally Resolved using Beautiful Form (Solo Exhibition), MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai (2015); Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, Ekaterinburg; Essential Matters - Moving Images from China, Borusan Contemporary Perili Kosk, Istanbul, (2015); Think carefully, where have you been yesterday? (Solo Exhibition) BizART, Shanghai (2007); Alllooksame/Tutttuguale? Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (2006); Second Guangzhou Triennale, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou (2005); Felicidad Indecible (Unspeakable Happiness), Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City (2005); Follow Me!, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2005); The Heaven, The World (Solo Exhibition), ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai (2004); XXV Biennale de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo (2002); Money and Value, The Last Taboo, Switzerland (2002); 4th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai (2002); Unpacking Europe, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2001); Living in Time, National galerie im Hamburger Bahnhof Museum fuer Gegenwartskunst, Berlin (2001); The Third Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane (1999); Art for Sale, Shanghai (1999); Cities on the Move (1-6): Exhibition of Asian Art, Secession, Vienna; CAPC, Musee d' Art Contemporain, Bordeaux; PS1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen; Hayward Gallery, London; Kiasma; Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki (1997- 1999); Two Attitudes Toward Identity 93, Gallery of Shanghai Huashan Art Vocational School, Shanghai (1993) etc.