Artist

Sun Xun

Born in Fuxin, 1980 and lives in Beijing, China

Considered one of China’s most talented rising young artists, Sun Xun’s artistic practice combines meticulous craftsmanship with stylistic experimentation not limited to any one medium. Blurring the lines between drawing, painting, animation and installation, his work incorporates a wide array of materials. Painting, woodcuts, traditional Chinese ink and charcoal drawings are often combined to create the foundation of expressionistic, stop-motion animated films. These films are then presented in immersive settings, creating a theatre of memory for the visitor, filled with realistic and fantastical iconography. Sun Xun was born in Fuxin, an industrial mining town in northeast China, and grew up in the period immediately following the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The lingering aftereffects of this movement continue to have a profound impact on his work, which often explores the themes of global history, culture, memory and politics. He is especially interested in the way historical events are perceived and remembered by ordinary citizens versus how they are officially presented by public agencies and the media. Sun Xun’s work explores concepts of past versus present, personal versus political in symbolic and surrealist ways, often choosing to use animals and insects as the main characters of the story instead of people. Sun Xun studied printmaking at the China Academy of Fine Arts, and founded Pi animation studio in 2006. In 2010 he was awarded the Best Young Artists award by the CCAA, the Young Art Award by Taiwan Contemporary Art Link and the Arts Fellowship by Citivella Ranieri Foundation (Italy). Sun Xun has held multiple solo exhibitions around the world, most notably at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; The Hayward Gallery, London; The Drawing Center, New York; the Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel; the A4 Contemporary Arts Centre, Chengdu; the Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai; and the Louis Vuitton Taipei Maison, Taipei. He has most recently exhibited his work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai; and The Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver. His films have been screened at numerous festivals worldwide, including, the 25th Torino Film Festival, Torino; the 8th Seoul International Film Festival, Seoul; the 53rd International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen; and the MECAL International Short Film Festival, Barcelona.

Exhibitions
Exhibitions
China China
PinchukArtCentre presents China China, a major group exhibition including eleven Chinese artists of different...
18 May 2013 - 06 Oct 2013
PinchukArtCentre
Kiev
Exhibitions
Thinking Currents
Thinking Currents will be a signature exhibition within Seattle artfair focusing on new media, video,...
30 Jul 2015 - 02 Aug 2015
Seattle Art Fair
Seattle
Exhibitions
The Uncertain, or the Shelved…
The diversified perspectives have been finalised after sourcing through numerous artists’ studios....
17 Jul 2016 - 31 Aug 2016
ShanghART Gallery Shanghai
Shanghai
Exhibitions
Holzwege
ShanghART celebrates its 20th anniversary and the inauguration of its new gallery building located in...
10 Nov 2016 - 15 Feb 2017
ShanghART West Bund
Shanghai
Exhibitions
Tales of Our Time
The artists in this exhibition challenge the conventional understanding of place. By portraying often-overlooked...
05 Nov 2016 - 10 Mar 2017
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York
Exhibitions
Sun Xun : Prediction Laboratory
Yuz Museum presents the second solo show at museums in China of Sun Xun, “Prediction Laboratory”...
19 Nov 2016 - 15 Jan 2017
Yuz Museum
Shanghai
Exhibitions
One World Exposition 2: #like4like
Videotage presents the group exhibition “One World Exposition 2: #like4like”: the latest...
21 Mar 2017 - 20 Apr 2017
Hong Kong
Exhibitions
Assembling
Assembling is a collective two-parts project: an exhibition in K11’s main exhibition hall and a city...
27 May 2018 - 25 Aug 2018
chi K11 art space
China
Exhibitions
Entropy
Presented by Faurschou Foundation, “Entropy” explores the works of seven Chinese contemporary...
10 May 2019 - 01 Sep 2019
Faurschou Foundation in Venice
Venice
Art Spaces
Kiang Malingue
Galleries in Hong Kong
Sean Kelly
Galleries in New York
ShanghART Gallery Shanghai
Galleries in Shanghai
ShanghART Singapore
Galleries in Singapore
ShanghART West Bund
Galleries in Shanghai
Edouard Malingue Shanghai
Galleries in Shanghai
Waldburger Wouters / ShanghART – Büro
Galleries in Basel
My Art Guides Art Spaces’ Dashboard
Update your art space’s profile with all current and upcoming shows and keep yourselves on the map