Huang Yuxing

Huang Yuxing is undoubtedly the most important Chinese artist of the post-1970s generation. He grew up during a period of rapid transformation in Chinese society in which a long-standing conservative and closed environment was suddenly opened up, and the existing social order was reshuffled. Against this backdrop, artists born in the 1970s naturally became a generation in which individual consciousness began to emerge through creative expression. Obviously, Huang Yuxing has progressed further than the rest of his peers. Drawing from his personal experiences and cognitive perceptions, Huang responds through painting to three essential themes: the individual, the social, and the universal.

Huang’s personal artistic trajectory most fully preserves and reveals tactile sensation, physiological perception, and emotional expression. Each shift in his creative direction is almost always triggered by life itself rather than abstract concepts. At the core of his evolving body of work lies an exploration of the politics of the body. Beginning with relentless self-examination, vivid and acute personal emotions and perceptions consistently overflow onto his canvases. His paintings, which often center on the human body and natural landscapes, not only serve to calibrate and affirm individual identity but also open up a deep inquiry into nature, culture, and even the philosophy of life.

Huang has always emphasized the elements of the painting process and the layering of colors, accumulating layers after repeated grinding and washing over time. This approach aligns with the Chinese tradition of “Gongbi Zhongcai,” meticulous brushwork and the use of rich, saturated color. He has undergone complete transformation—from extreme darkness to vibrant colors, and from confined to expansive spatial compositions. Themes such as darkness and light, ecstasy and despair, and freedom and discipline, constantly alternate through different symbolic forms in his work. The intense experiences and perceptions Huang has gathered   generate tensions and contradictions on his canvases, forming the boundless vitality of Huang Yuxing’s artistic life.

1975    Born in Beijing

2000   Mural Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023   Under the Vault of Heaven, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, China

2022   An Absolute Power We Cannot Find, Almine Rech, New York, US

2021   Heaps of Brocade and Ash, Almine Rech, Brussels, Belgium

2019   Essence of Landscape, König London, UK

Huang Yuxing: The Lake of Barking Infants, Whitestone Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2018   Kingdom of Gold: Huang Yuxing Solo Exhibition, Whitestone Gallery, Taipei, China

2016   AND NE FORTHEDON NÁ, Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong, China

2015   Alluvial, Minsheng Modern Art Museum, Shanghai, China

Liquidus, YUZ Museum, Shanghai, China

2014   The River’ s Gobbled Up Trees and He’ ll Swallow You Next, Antenna Space, Shanghai, China

2013   Le Cours d’ un Fleuve, Galerie Paul Frèches, Paris, France

2012   Huang Yuxing, Beijing Commune, Beijing, China

Jardin des Révolutionnaires, Galerie Paul Frèches, Paris, France

2010   Light: Huang Yuxing’ s Drawing Exhibition, Star Gallery, Beijing, China

Light: Huang Yuxing’ s Drawing Exhibition, Red Bridge Gallery, Shanghai, China

2008   Life History in Changing, Red Bridge gallery, Shanghai, China

2007   Hole, Star Gallery, Beijing, China

2003   Adventure, Soka Art Center, Beijing, China

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024 One and All: New Artistic Styles of Contemporary Painting, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

2023 Row the Boat as You Wish, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China

A Leisurely Stroll – The Tenth Anniversary of The Long Museum, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, China

2020 On Sabbatical, West Bund Museum, Shanghai, China

2019 One if by Land, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China

Diversity for Peace!, Whitestone Gallery, San Marco Square, Venice, Italy

2018 The Clouded Peach Blossom Spring: Selected Works of Chinese Contemporary Artists as Exemplars, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China

2016 Illusion: Cheng Ran, Huang Yuxing, Xue Feng, Night Gallery, LA, US

Dissensus Agitation – The Painting to Language, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

Over the Wall – Paintings Tempted by Installation, Tang Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China

Unrealities in the Reality: The Intellectual Dimension of Daily Life, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China

Too Loud a Solitude: Stalkers of Chinese Contemporary Art, Hive Center for

Contemporary Art, Beijing, China

2014 In Memory of a Landscape – Chen Yujun, Huang Yuxing, Yuan Yuan, James Cohan Gallery, Shanghai, China

Presenting Recital Louder than Paint, Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China

2013 Flame and the Sea: Gao Weigang, Huang Yuxing and Ouyang Chun, Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong, China

Group Exhibition for the inauguration of the gallery, Antenna Space, Shanghai, China

2012 China – XinJiang the Contemporary Art Biennale, WuLuMuQi, China

2011 70s Present Continuous, LIN & LIN GALLERY, Taipei, China

2010 DU – CROSSOVER Around Space, Shanghai, China

2009 Weaving A Chinese Dream – Chinese Elements in New Generation Art, Star Gallery, Beijing, China

From Zero to Hero, Star Gallery, Beijing, China

2008 Rebuild, Star Gallery, Beijing, China

Looking for Me, Minsheng Center for Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China

2007 A Generation far away form Center, 798 Art District, Beijing, China

2006 New Interface II, Red Bridge Gallery, Shanghai, China & Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China

2005 Naughty Kids, Star Gallery, Beijing, China

Next Station, Cartoon? , Star gallery, Beijing, China & He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China

2002 Dialogue? 100 Years? , Soka Art Center, Beijing China

Public Collections

Powerlong Museum, China

HEM Museum, China

ICA Miami，USA

Whale Art Museum, Singapore

Longlati Foundaton, China

Long Museum, China

LYC Collection, China

Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum, China Start Museum, China

Yuz Museum, China

CAFA Art Museum, China