He Xiangyu’s conceptual practice manifests in multi-year projects that span sculpture, drawing, installation, and video. Emerging as part of a generation of artists who experienced rapid urbanization in China during their upbringing, Xiangyu’s work looks to shift the viewer’s perception of cultural signifiers through an examination and manipulation of material. Divergent in their aesthetic, Xiangyu’s projects aim to investigate an array of personal, social, and political themes, addressing cultural boundaries and the commercialized status of contemporary art.
He Xiangyu’s solo show The Radiance of Liberty is now on view at Andrew Kreps Gallery until October 18, 2024.
In 2023, He’s work was the subject of an exhibition at the Sifang Art Museum, Shanghai, and in 2021 He was shortlisted for the 4th edition of the Mario Merz Prize. Other past solo exhibitions of He’s work include House of Nations, CCA, Berlin, 2022, Low-hanging Fruits, Tao Art Space, Taipei, 2022, New Directions: He Xiangyu, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, 2015, and Cola Project, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney, 2012, among others. In addition, He has participated in numerous group exhibitions which include: Facing the Collector, The Sigg Collection of Contemporary Art from China, Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, Turin, 2020, Terminal 3, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2019, Tales of Our Time (Film Program), Guggenheim Museum New York, New York, 2017, Chinese Whispers, Paul Klee Zentrum, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, 2016, and Fire and Forget: On Violence, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, 2015, among others. He Xiangyu has additionally participated in the 5th Ural Biennale, Yekaterinburg, 2019, Everything We Create is Not Ourselves, the 58th Venice Biennale Chinese Pavilion, Venice, 2019, the 13th Lyon Biennale, Lyon, 2015, the 10th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, 2014, the 5th Yokohama Triennale, Yokohama, 2014, as well as the 8th Busan Biennale, Busan, 2014. He Xiangyu was named as a finalist for the Future Generation Art Prize in 2014, and won the 10th CCAA Best Young Artist Award in 2016. His recent interdisciplinary research publication "Yellow Book" 2019 was awarded as one of “The Most Beautiful German Books in 2020”. His works have been collected by a number of public and private collections such as Asymmetry Art Foundation, London, Boros Collection, Berlin, Castello Di Rivoli, Turin, KADIST Art Foundation, Paris; San Francisco, Long Museum, Shanghai, M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong, New Century Art Foundation, Beijing, Rubell Family Collection, Miami, White Rabbit Collection, Sydney, and others.