Hong Hao is a highly independent artist, not forming part of any school. His work is innovative, astute and satirical. Much of his work deals with illusion, appearance and preconception. He has spent many years working on a book of maps, called the Scriptures, that reshapes the world according to different forces. For example one map, New World Order, shows the world rearranged geographically and the names of large corporations used to name the countries. Another redistributes land mass according to military and economic strength. Another replaces the names of capital cities with popular expressions or words, yet another shows nuclear arms stationed in selected sites the world over. Hong Hao's intent is to confuse and thus challenge orthodox perceptions. He continues this challenge with great irony and less foreboding in his photographic series Beijing Tour Guide,1999-2000.

One of Hong Hao's best known photographic series, "My Things", opened up a new realm of personal expression for the artist. The photographs are composed of thousands of scanned images of objects from his own life. These commonplace things are arranged by the artist using a computer. There is no traditional photo taken by a camera. The objects are shown life size and some represent over 20 years of accumulation on the part of the artist while others could have been part of that day's lunch. These micro universes, from afar like satellite photos, close up invite a moment of intimacy, a glimpse into the life of the artist, a discovery of contemporary China and a chance to pick out what we would find in our own homes.

My Things No. 6, 2002, appears different from the other works in this series since it refers only to the communist revolution whereas the other works in the series cover a variety of subjects. Hong Hao subtitles My Things No. 6: The Hangover of Revolution in my Home which is revealing of the continued presence of the communist and specifically the Cultural revolutions for the Chinese of Hong Hao's generation. For the West these revolutions are long over but for many Chinese they are still as much a part of their consciousness as the noodles and pliers of My Thing's 4, completed in 2002.

Most recently, to comemorate Chinese Contemporary's tenth anniversary, Hong Hao created 10 Years Chinese Contemporary, a work that visually captures the past 10 years of Chinese contemporary art. Ticket stubs from important art fairs, the cover images from artists', like Ma Liuming and Wei Dong, first catalogues and artist's personal phtographs are interspersed with images of works prevously exhibited by the gallery, each of which mark a seminal time for the featured artists as well as for the gallery. A visual tour de force and a documentary work of import, 10 Years Chinese Contemporay tells the story of not only where Chinese Contemporary has been but also of the Chinese contemporary art's journey.

Images and text courtesey of Chinese Contemporary Gallery (Beijing, London, New York)

HONG HAO

1965 Born in Beijing
1989 Graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing

Currently living and working in Beijing, China

Solo Exhibitions

2007
Elegant Gathering: Hong Hao’s Opening, Chamber's Fine Art, New York City, USA

2004
My Things, Chinese Contemporary, London, England
Hong Hao, Base Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2000
Suspended Disbelief, Art Beatus Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
Scenes from the Metropolis, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing, China

1999
Selected Show, Canvas International Art, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Group Exhibitions

2007
Zhu Yi! Chinese Contemporary Photography, ARTIUM de Alava, Spain
Long March Project - Yan'an, Long March Space, Beijing, China

2006
Double-Sounded Cracker, Tang Contemporary Gallery, Beijing, China
Only One Wall, Artspace, Sydney, Australia
Ten Years, Chinese Contemporary Gallery, Beijing, China

2005-06
Mahjong, Kunsthalle, Bern & Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany

2005
Zooming into Focus - Contemporary Chinese Photography and Video from the Haudens, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai
Regeneration - Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the U.S., ASUART - Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
On the Edge-Contemporary Chinese Artists Encounter the West, Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, USA
Competition, The CourtYard Gallery, Beijing, China
The New Long March Space Inaugural Exhibition, Long March Foundation, Beijing

2004-06
Regeneration, Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell Univ., Lewisburg, PA, & touring USA

2004
Regeneration - Contemporary Chinese Art, David Winton Bell Gallery, Providence, RI
Zai Shoku Ken Bi - Art & Money, Base Gallery, Tokyo
Die Chinesen: Fotografie und Video aus China, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg
Misleading Trails, China Art Archives & Warehouse (CAAW), Beijing
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video From China, International Center of Photography, New York
Zooming into Focus, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai

2003
Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles
Chinese Maximalism, Millennium Art Museum, Beijing and the University of Buffalo Art Galleries, Buffalo, NY
Contemporary Chinese Photography, Chinese Contemporary, London

2002
1st Guangzhou Triennial　A Decade of Experimental Chinese Art, Guangdong Museum of Art, Er-Sha Island,Guangzhou, China
Too Much Flavour, 3H Art Centre, Shanghai

2001-02
Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu Modern Art Museum, Chengdu

2001
Cross Pressures, Oulu City Art Museum, Finland
Virtual Future, Art Museum of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China
Album de la Famille Chine, Modern Contemporary Art Museum, Nice, France
From Inside the Body, ISE Foundation, New York, USa

2000
Caught & Arranged – Photography, China Art Archives & Warehouse (CAAW), Beijing, China
Big Torino: Biennale of Emerging Artists, Torino, Italy
Basel Art Fair, Basel, Switzlerand
Chinese Avant garde Art in the 90s, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai

1999
Beijing in London, ICA, London, England
Love, Chinese Contemporary Photography and Video, Tachikawa International Arts Festival, Tokyo, Japan
Five Continents and One City, Museum of Mexico City, Mexico

1989-99
Inside Out: New Chinese Art, Asia Society, New York, MoMA San Francisco, USA

1997
Immutability and Fashion: Chinese Contemporary Art in the Midst of Changing Surroundings, Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Japan

1995
Changes: Modern Art from China, Art Museum of Gothenburg, Gothenburg

1993
China‘s New Art, Post-1989, Hong Kong, Sydney, London

1988
Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles