Liu Chengrui

Liu Chengrui, born in Qinghai in 1983 into a semi-nomadic family, graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at Qinghai Normal University in 2005 and is now based in Beijing. His practice spans performance art, painting, and writing. The "DECADE" launched by Qinghai Lake in 2006 forms the humanistic foundation of his work, where participants collectively reshape their life narratives and social identities through shared "agreements". His works seek to capture humanity's shared resoluteness and poetic essence, employing imagery of mythology, allegory, and consumerism to reveal intense personal conviction and complex spiritual realities. With poetry as his creative wellspring, he curates the daily-updated platform "Punishing Pride" and has self-published poetry collections including Grief (2017), So the River (2013), and Which Way to East (2004).

Liu Chengrui’s major solo exhibitions include “Sir, you are a true labourer”，Madein Gallery, Shanghai(2023）; “Hello Spring”, Cai Jin Space, Beijing(2022); “Pagan”, MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai (2016); “Into the Sun”, X Gallery, Beijing (2015); “So The River”, A4 Contemporary Arts Center, Chengdu (2013); “Our Backgrounds are All the Same”, Vitamin Creative Space, Beijing (2011). Major group exhibitions include “Poetry by the Barbarian, ASE Foundation, Shanghai (2024), “Bàng! Childen’s Arts Festival”, OCAT, Shenzhen(2022) , “About Wind”, Nanjing Art Museum, Nanjing (2021), “Stratification and Synthesis”, Xiezilong Image Art Museum, Changsha (2020); “Heavy Artillery”, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia (2016); The 3rd Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, Yekaterinburg, Russia (2015); The 6th Moscow Biennial of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia (2015); Performance Platform Lublin, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, Poland (2013); The 19th Nippon International Performance Art Festival, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagano, Japan (2013); The 53rd Venice Biennale – Exhibits from Macao, Venice, Italy (2009). Liu was awarded the Excellence Award in the Youth Plus-Young Artists Promotion Project supported by China National Arts Fund (2015) and first prize in the 1st Circle Art Youth Award (2015). In addition, Merit Award of the "In the Name of the Body" Performance Art Documentation Exhibition organized by the Macao Museum of Art (2008), which led to an invitation to participate in the Macao Thematic Exhibition at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009.