Introduction

As a pioneer of the practice of video art in China, Zhu Jia always tries to capture ordinary scenes through distinctive methods of practice. In his 1994 piece “Forever”, which has participated in several important exhibitions, Zhu attached a camera to the left wheel of a bicycle. The artist rode this bicycle over 10km around the city of Beijing, catching images of daily life through a truly unique perspective. In the work “Did they have sex?” he held up a sign, posing this very question, in front of arbitrarily chosen couples on the street and took photos, asking the viewer to generate their own answer. By establishing these fictitious relationships, the overall artist discusses different people's attitudes towards the sensitive issue of sex in society.

Zhu Jia, born in 1963, Beijing. Graduated from China Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1988. He lives and works in London and Beijing now. Selected exhibitions include Zhu Jia solo exhibition: Faraway Friends, Modern Art Base, Shanghai(2020); Zhu Jia solo exhibition: Be Together for Today, DRC No. 12, Beijing(2017); Art and Chine after 1989: Theater of the world, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, U.S.A. (2017); Scarcity& Supply, The 3rd Nanjing International Art Festival, Baijia Lake Art Museum, Nanjing (2016); 3rd Bienal de Montevideo 2016, Montevideo, Uruguay (2016); That has Been, and May be Again , Para Site, Hong Kong (2016); Displaying Fragments , Ten Years of OCAT (2005-2015) , OCAT, Beijing (2016); Art Changsha 2015 , China: Bridges to History, Technology, Poetry and Grace, Changsha Municipal Museum; Tan Guobin Contemporary Art Museum, Changsha (2015); Zhu Jia solo exhibition: Critical Pervasion, Shanghart Gallery & H Space, Shanghai (2015); Mobile M+: Moving Images, Hong Kong (2015); Landseasky, Revisiting Spatiality in video art, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shanghai (2014); Out of the Box, The Threshold of Video Art in China (1984-1998), Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou(2011); Trans Local Motion—7th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Musuem, Shanghai (2008); 10th International Istanbul Biennial-Not only Possible, But also Necessary-Optimism in the Age of Global War, Istanbul, Turkey (2007); Zooming into Focus (NAMOC)-Contemporary Chinese Photography and Video from the Haudenschild Collection, National Art Museum Of China, Beijing (2005); 50th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennale-Dreams and Conflicts. The Dictatorship of the Viewer, Venice, Italy (2003); Tempo, the Works Show of Contemporary Art in 20th, The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York, U.S.A. (2002); Living in Time-29 Contemporary Artists from China, National galerie im Hamburger Bahnhof Museum fuer Gegenwartskunst, Berlin, Germany (2001); Every Day-11th Biennale of Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art etc., Sydney, Australia (1998); Trade Routes: History and Geography, 2nd Johannesburg Biennale, Johannesburg, South Africa (1997).