Born 1952 in Beijing, after experiencing a prolonged period of rootlessness (Inner Mongolia, Japan), currently lives and works in Beijing.
1978. One of the founders of the influential underground literary magazine, “Today”, along with the poets Bei Dao, Mang Ke.
1979. One of the co-organizers of the “Stars Exhibition” with artist Ma Desheng. “Stars Exhibition” was recognized as one of the first contemporary art movements in mainland China.
2002. The main organizer of Beijing’s 798 Arts District, and the advocate for the conservation and conversion of 798.
2004-2007. The creative director of 798 Art Festival (DIAF).
2018. The “Huang Rui White Cloud House” (2006-2018), which Huang Rui built with personal funds, was donated to the local government, which becomes the Hong Kong CHOI Chinese-Europe Art Cultural Centre today.
From the 1970s, created avant-garde, independent work mainly involving abstraction in flatness and 3-dimensional installation. Through his solitary and unique artistic style and opposition to mainstream art tastes, Huang Rui became a locus of controversy in China.
1979, Huang Rui exhibited the abstract painting “Infinite Space” at the Beijing Official Exhibition and was the first in art history to publicly display an abstract artwork in China.
After the 1980s, Huang Rui created the independent concept of space, with “Space Structure” series created in the early 1980s, and “Space” series in the late 80s. By starting from experiments with abstracted ancient Beijing city aesthetics, Huang Rui embarked on a self-improving path of balancing the injection of individual consciousness into the raw substance of the universe.
Simultaneously, he combined Taoism and the natural philosophy within Yi jing to formulate the “Yin Yang” dual nature of his expression, which lasted for roughly 30 years.
Since 2020, Huang Rui situates the act of observation both before and behind the artwork, or it can be said by superimposing both light and shadow in the same space, advancing solid dimensions from the flat canvas, and presenting the virtual dimensionality through the intersection of form, he has entered a uniquely independent realm, that is unseen both in China and the wider world. Possibly in the realm of Taoism, he has completed the process of description, in which his goals and completed works have created an active reality between the absence and the presence – back then we could have only approached this from the literary heritage of Taoism, without any expectations of experiencing this advanced spirituality in visual presentation.
Solo Exhibitions:
2024
Red – The Lack of Blood Coagulation, Ginkgo Space, Shanghai, China
Collage and Decollage, Songzhu Temple, Beijing, China
2023
Door of Silence, Spurs Gallery, Beijing, China
Here，10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
The Absence of Peace, Embassy of Poland, Beijing, China
Void as Name, Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, China
2022
Void of Peace, Embassy of Poland, Beijing, China
2021
Huang Rui: Art Life, Jupiter Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
The Way of Abstraction, UCCA Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China
Golden Summit, Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing, Beijing, China
Free Art Creation, Art Creates Freedom, Embassy of Germany, Beijing, China
2019
Wild Child, Sotheby's Gallery, London, UK
Huang Zang, Performance Art, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2018
Huang Rui: Zen Space, Boer Gallery, New York, USA
Huang Rui, FIAC2018 Boer Gallery, Paris, France
Huang Rui: Space Structure, Armory Show (10 Chancery Lane Gallery), New York, USA
2017
Huang Rui: 1989, Frieze Masters Exhibition, London, UK
Ping-Pong, Performance Art, LA Contemporary Art Fair, Los Angeles, USA
Huang Rui Ink 1980-2000, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2016
Huang Rui: 1976, Zürcher Gallery, Paris, France
In Search of Words, Performance Art Event, Zürcher Gallery, Paris, France
Huang Rui Space - Japan Period, Boers-Li Gallery, Beijing, China
Huang Rui Space - Japan Period, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2015
Words and Colors, Zürcher Gallery, New York, USA
2014
Black Cat, White Cat 49, What's Next?, Performance Exhibition, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
Huang Duanzi: Huang Rui's Works on Paper 1981-2014, Hadrien de Montferrand Gallery, Beijing, China
Space Structure, 1983-1986 , 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2013
Wasteland Series, Boers-Li Gallery, Beijing, China
2012
Women, German Embassy Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Beijing, China
Ping-Pong, Shanghai Beach, Hong Kong, China
Words and Colors, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
Same Easy, The Opposite House, Beijing, China
2011
Huang Rui Exhibition, Hongji Space, Seoul, South Korea
I JOY YOU JOY, 604 Gallery, Busan, South Korea
CZECHINA, Art Pavilion, Czech Embassy, Beijing, China
2009
Beijing City of Animal Time 1204-2009, Museum of the Undercity, Brussels, Belgium
COMERCHINA, China Contemporary Gallery, Beijing, China
COMERCHINA, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2008
Chinese History of Animal Time, Beijing Angle Gallery, Beijing, China
Chinese History of Animal Time, Museum of the Roman Walls, Rome, Italy
Beijing 2008 - Huang Rui Exhibition, Sala1, Rome, Italy
2007
Huang Rui Star Era 1977-1984, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Words Make Thoughts Eternal, China Contemporary Gallery, New York, USA
2006
Chairman Mao's Ten Million, China Contemporary Gallery, Beijing, China
Fifty Years Unchanged under One Country, Two Systems, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2000
Aerial Journey IV, Osaka Prefectural Contemporary Art Center, Osaka, Japan
Aerial Journey III, Kansai Contemporary Art Laboratory, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Feng Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1999
Beijing Zero, Wins Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1998
Huang Rui Exhibition, JF Mayer Gallery, Marseille, France
Huang Rui Exhibition, Feng Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1997
Huang Rui Exhibition, Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
New Dao of Yi Jing, Performance Exhibition, West Tianman Street, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Jigsaw Gallery, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Feng Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1996
Huang Rui Exhibition, Haiwendang Gallery, Kobe, Japan
1995
Water born Life, Water born Wood, Wood born Paper, Ruins Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Huang Rui Exhibition, Bai Tianxiang Gallery, Paris, France
Water +, Performance Exhibition, Zero Gallery, Osaka, Japan
Er Guo Tou Liquor + Ruins, Performance Exhibition, Guanyuan Demolition Area, Beijing, China
Huang Rui Exhibition, Feng Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1994
Water + Fish, Huang Rui Studio, Beijing, China
Water + Bamboo, Huang Rui Studio, Beijing, China
Huang Rui Exhibition, Ueda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Haiwendang Gallery, Kobe, Japan
1993
Commemorating the Centenary of Chairman Mao's Birth, Ai Weiwei Studio, Beijing, China
1992
Huang Rui Exhibition, International Art Museum, Beijing, China (canceled on the eve of the exhibition)
Huang Rui Exhibition. September Gallery, Beijing, China (canceled on the eve of the exhibition)
Water +, Huang Rui Studio, Beijing, China
Huang Rui Exhibition, Modern Chinese Art Center, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Feng Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1991
Huang Rui Exhibition, Haiwendang Gallery, Kobe, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Ueda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1990
Huang Rui Exhibition, Osaka Prefectural Contemporary Art Center, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Feng Gallery, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Modern Chinese Art Center, Osaka, Japan
1989
Huang Rui Exhibition, Toaru Gallery, Kobe, Japan
1988
Huang Rui Exhibition, Modern Chinese Art Center, Osaka, Japan
1987
Huang Rui Exhibition, Feng Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1986
Huang Rui Exhibition, Ueda Warehouse Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Modern Chinese Art Center, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Toaru Gallery, Kobe, Japan
1985
Huang Rui Exhibition, Feng Gallery, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Toaru Gallery, Kobe, Japan
1984
Huang Rui Exhibition, Central Gallery, Osaka, Japan
Huang Rui Exhibition, Ueda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Group Exhibitions:
2024
Basel, Hong Kong
2023
Basel, Hong Kong
2022
First Beijing Art Biennale, Mumu Art Museum, Beijing, China
Art Connects, 2022 Wuhan Biennale, Wuhan, China
Sculpture Group Exhibition, Zan Shang Li Gallery, Hong Kong, China
West Bund Art & Design Fair, West Bund Art Center, Shanghai, China
Our Golden Age, Guardian Art Center, Beijing, China
Gallery Week Beijing, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China
Three Shadows +3 Gallery Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, Three Shadows, Beijing, China
Rebirth, Cai Guanshen Cultural Exchange Center - Cloud Pavilion, Beijing, China
Between - China-Japan-Korea Contemporary Art Exhibition, Epoch Art Museum, Wenzhou, China
2021
Open Things: Daily Life and Imagination in Contemporary China, Hospice Museum of the Countess of Lille, Lille, France
Hands of Memory, K11 Art Center, Beijing, China
West Bund Art & Design Fair, West Bund Art Center, Shanghai, China
Dhahran Contemporary Art Biennale, JAX Creative District, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Extending: Changing Chinese Art, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China
Gallery Week Beijing, Tokyo Gallery + BTAP, Beijing, China
2020
Salon Salon, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Guangzhou, China
Conspiracy of Form, Surplus Space, Wuhan, China
CLEAN, Spurs Gallery, Beijing, China
2019
Stars 1979, OCAT Research Center, Beijing, China
Hong Kong Basel Art Fair, Hong Kong, China
2018
Thirty Years: Tian Hatao and Chinese Contemporary Art 1989-2018, Tokyo Gallery, Beijing, China
Forty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art Seen by Forty Artists, Baolong Art Museum, Shanghai, China
On Paper, BOERS-LI GALLERY, Beijing, China
Dedicated to Elysee: Chinese Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition, UCCA, Beijing, China
2017
Art After 1989 and China: Theater of the World, Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
Huang Rui + Rong Rong: Accompanied by Photography, Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing, China
Three Stone Ancestors , Anren Biennale, Anren, Sichuan, China
Frieze Masters Exhibition, Frieze Sculpture Park, London, UK
Shanghai Seeds, Himalayas Museum, Shanghai, China
798 Archives Exhibition, Jeju Biennale, Jeju, South Korea
2016
Free Men - Performance Art, Xiamen Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Xiamen, China
Finding Characters, Beijing Live International Performance Art Festival, Danish Cultural Center, Beijing, China
9817711: Northeast Asia Regional History and Era Spirit, Nine Square Infinite Modern Art Museum, Xi'an, China
Beijing 798 Birth Story, Songzhuang Art Museum, Beijing, China
I Ching, Performance Exhibition, 11th Live Action, Gothenburg/Borås, Sweden
2015
Black Cat, White Cat, Huang Rui & Wang Keping Duo Exhibition, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
Power of the Folk, Special Invited Unit, Opening Exhibition, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China
China 8, Dusseldorf National Art Museum, Bonn National Art Museum, Germany
Agitprop!, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Beneath the Skin: Chinese Contemporary Art Re-Enlightenment Series Exhibition from 1979 to 1984, Xi'an Art Museum, Xi'an, China
Focus Beijing, Museum Van Boijmans Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Commemorate 85, Xinhua Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2014
Unofficial Art Before 85, BOERS-LI GALLERY, Beijing, China
2013
Transformation, Urban Sculpture Exhibition 2013, Shenzhen, China
Digital Presence, Xiaozhou Art Village, Guangzhou, China
Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Before Dawn, Asia Society Hong Kong Center, Hong Kong
2012
RAZE Group Exhibition, Pékin Fine Arts., Beijing, China
Daydream..., Artis Tree, Hong Kong
2011
Guangzhou Live Arts Festival, Xiaozhou Art Village, Guangzhou, China
Blossoming in the Shadows: Chinese Unofficial Art 1974–1985, Asia Art Archive, New York, USA
Red, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
Love and Hope, Iberia Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China
Chinese Performance Art Archives Exhibition, Songzhuang Art Museum, Beijing, China
2010
Empty, Gallery 10 Chancery Lane, Hong Kong, China
Huang Rui and Dai Guangyu: Allegorical Characters, Galerie Andres Thalmann, Paris, France
Transformation of Chinese History: Animals and Time, 2001-2009 Chinese New Art, National Convention Center, Beijing, China
Synthesis, Czech Pavilion Japan Art Project, Shanghai Expo, Shanghai, China (canceled by the Shanghai Expo Security Bureau before the exhibition)
Emotion/Color, Hadrien de Montferrand Gallery, Beijing, China
Warm Winter Art Project, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China (canceled by the Chaoyang District Public Security Bureau before the exhibition)
Koehler Wiener Supports Chinese Artists, ARTMIA Art Center, Beijing, China
2009
Script in Asian Fine Arts, Gallery 604, Busan, South Korea
Berlin Wall Memorial Exhibition, 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall Commemoration Ceremony, Berlin, Germany
Berlin Wall Memorial Exhibition, German Embassy Courtyard, Beijing, China
Chinese Imagery - Urban Flag, Qujiang District Art Center/Big Wild Goose Pagoda Square, Xi'an, China
5th International Ceramic Art Biennale Performance Art Project, Lichuan Ceramic Art Museum, Lichuan, South Korea
2008
Auvergne and Chinese Artists, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing, China
Eternal Sichuan, Outdoor Exhibition at the Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China
Chinese Avant-Garde Art, Groningen Museum of Art, Groningen, Netherlands
Earthquake - Earthquake, Art Channel Gallery, Beijing, China
Pause, Red Star Gallery, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
Case - Artists in Art History, St. Space Art Center, Beijing, China
Memories of China, Zdenek Sklenar Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
2007
Contemporary China, Cobra Museum of Modern Art, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Chinese Performance Art, Louisiana Museum of Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
Sea, Sky, and China - Made in China, Louisiana Museum of Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
Chinese Performance Art Photography Exhibition, Ying Gallery, Beijing, China
2006
Creating History - Contemporary Chinese Art of the 1980s, OCAT Art Center, Shenzhen, China
Ming Ke Ming - Grand Art Festival, Performance Exhibition, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
Unexpected, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, China
Contemporary China, Essl Museum, Vienna, Austria
DIAF2006 - Under Siege Comprehensive Exhibition, 706 Space, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
DIAF2006 - Transboundary Language, Performance Exhibition, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
2005
From the Old Summer Palace to 798, Performance Art Exhibition, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
Asian Cubism Painting Exhibition, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
Transparent Boxes, Jianwai SOHO, Beijing, China
Settlements of the Intersection of East Longitude and North Latitude, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) Preparation Space, Beijing, China
Construction of Fables, 0 Factory, Beijing, China
DIAF2005 - Transboundary Language, Performance Exhibition, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
2004
DIAF2004 - Transboundary Language, Performance Exhibition, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
Multiple Definitions - Imagined Community Exhibition, Vanke Crystal City, Tianjin, China
2003
Transboundary Language2003 - Scene of Poetry/Performance Art, Tokyo Art Project, Beijing, China
Blue Sky Without Borders - Anti-SARS Art Activities, 798 Art District, Yizhuang, Beijing, China
Left Hand and Right Hand - China-German Contemporary Art Joint Exhibition, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
2002
Beijing Ukiyo-e, Tokyo Art Project, Beijing, China
China International Performance Art Festival, Banpo Museum, Xi'an, China
First Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao Ancient City, Pingyao, China
Future Vision, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, Japan
2001
Wandering in Asia, Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Dream - Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition, Red Mansion Pavilion Art Space, London, UK
2000
Twenty Years of Stars Exhibition, Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Chinese Avant-Garde Art of the 1990s, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Choi Seok-ho, Huang Rui Duo Exhibition, O Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Warriors of Performance Art at the Turn of the Century - Ji Zenggang and Huang Rui, Shimada Gallery, Kobe, Japan
1999
Hundred Years of Memories, Huang Rui Studio, Osaka, Japan
Japan International Performance Art Festival, Osaka, Japan
True, Ruixing Temple, Osaka, Japan
1998
Japan International Performance Art Festival, Touring Performances, Nagano, Nagoya, Tokyo, Japan
Asian Performance Art Touring Exhibition, Japan Cultural Center, Paris, France
Asian Performance Art Touring Exhibition, Experimental Art Club, Hong Kong, China
Thousand-handed Guanyin, Dabeifosi Temple, Osaka, Japan
Floating City, Kobe Artificial Island, Kobe, Japan
Today Magazine's 20th Anniversary Commemorative - China-Japan Art Exchange Exhibition, Asahi Shimbun Theater, Tokyo, Japan
1997
Chinese Abstract Art Exhibition, Hong Kong Contemporary Art Center, Hong Kong, China
Modern Art on the Plain, Hangquan Shrine, Osaka, Japan
Eiji Okubo, Huang Rui Duo Exhibition, Huang Rui Studio, Osaka, Japan
Fourth Rokko Island Open Air Art Festival, Ocean Park, Kobe, Japan
1996
Contemporary Chinese Art, Asu Gallery, Oslo, Norway
Art of the Eurasian Continent, Oksan Art Center, Osaka, Japan
Origin of Fire and Myth, Saitama Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan
1995
Chinese Avant-Garde Painters Exhibition, Yichang Gallery, Hong Kong
1994
Art and Culture of the Stars, Mosentang Art Center, Frankfurt, Germany
Creativity in Asia, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan
1993
Fifteen Years of Stars Exhibition, Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1992
Asian Waves, Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Art Now, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, Japan
1990
Ma Desheng, Huang Rui, Wang Keping Exhibition, Hanyaxuan Gallery, Taipei
Huang Rui, Wang Keping Exhibition, Monty Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Stars: Ten Years, Salpetriere Church, Paris, France
1989
Ten Years of Stars Exhibition, Hanyaxuan Gallery, Hong Kong
Ink World Exhibition, Seibu Otsu Museum of Art, Otsu, Japan
Ink Exhibition, Modern Chinese Art Center, Osaka, Japan
1987
Six Artists of the Stars, Wave Gallery, New York, USA
Stars Archive Exhibition, Harvard University Cultural Center, Boston, USA
1985
Eiji Okubo, Huang Rui Duo Exhibition, Osaka Prefectural Contemporary Art Center, Osaka, Japan
1983
Eiji Okubo, Huang Rui, Wang Keping Trio Exhibition, Beijing Zixin Road Elementary School, Beijing, China (canceled during the exhibition)
1981
Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Art, New York, Boston, USA
1980
Second Star Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
1979
First Star Art Exhibition, Beihai Floating Gallery, Beijing, China
Star Art Exhibition, Outside the Wall of National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China (canceled during the exhibition)
Collections
Pompidou Center, Paris, France
Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Long Museum, Shanghai, China
M+ Museum, Hong Kong, China
Jupiter Museum, Shenzhen, China
