He Chengyao

Biography He was born in 1964 in the Sichuan province in China. He's parents worked in a pottery factory in Rongchang (present-day Chongqing) and, when He was conceived, the factory ordered He's parents to have an abortion because they were unmarried. However, they decided to keep her and as a result He's parents were both fired. He's mother was nineteen when she gave birth to him and the couple subsequently had two more children. She graduated from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 1989. She then worked briefly as an art teacher, before becoming a full-time oil painter. There, she was inspired by the art theories she was introduced to, and created her first piece of contemporary artwork, Hair (2001). Families Affected by Mental Illness premiered in 2007 at the Zendai Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai. He expressed in an interview, "I hope people can pay attention to the children from poor families and those who suffer from mental illness. I myself came from that kind of family." In Tibet, she volunteered as a teacher, and was heavily influenced by Buddhist teachings. Afterwards, she described her artistic process as "a kind of self-cultivation". Although her performances are frequently considered transgressive and are frowned upon by many including He's friends and teachers, this only reaffirms He's belief in the necessity of her work as both an intensely powerful form of self-expression and a challenge against social stigmas surrounding mental illness.

Opening the Great Wall (2001) Although He initially specialized in oil paintings, she is now predominantly focused on performance art. He states that her artistic shift was abrupt and occurred during a visit to the Great Wall of China: she spontaneously enacted a performance by taking off her red top and walking partially nude among German artist H.A. Schult's installations of myriad terracotta sculptures. Her action received much media attention, and stole Schult's thunder.

Mama and Me (2001) In the summer of 2001, He returned to her hometown of Chongqing to visit her mother. Pain of the Soul: Performance Art and Video Works by He Chengyao - Shanghai Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai (2007) "WOMEN我們" - Chinese Culture Center, San Francisco (2012) "Negotiable Values" - Chinese Art Centre, Manchester (2010) "Chain" - Chinese Art Centre, Manchester (2007) "Global Feminisms" - Brooklyn Museum, New York (2007) "Out from XiNan" - Guangdong Museum, Guangzhou (2007) Performance Art Documentations from China - SUMU Titanik Gallery, Turku (2006) International Exhibitionist - Curzon Soho Cinema, London (2006) Cruel/Loving Bodies - Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong (2006) "Vital", International Chinese Live Art Festival - Chinese Art Centre, Manchester (2006) "Loft of Language" - ThreeQuarters Art Gallery, Beijing (2005) "China Live" UK touring exhibition, (2005) "The Magic Lantern" - Galway Arts Center, Ireland (2005) Changing Faces - Taipei Artist Village (2005) "Transborder Language" - Beijing Tokyo Art Projects, Beijing (2005) "The Wall" - Millennium Art Museum, Beijing / University of Buffalo Art Galleries, New York (2005) "Making Relationships" - Taipei Art Museum & Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan (2005) Asian Women's Art - Tokyo Joshibi University's Art Museum, Tokyo (2004) Spellbound Auro-The New Vision of Chinese Photography - Taipei Modern Art Museum, Taipei (2004) 14th Recontre Internationale Art Performance Quebec - Le Lieu Centre Art, Quebec City / Clark Gallery, Montreal (2004) 798 Photographic Memory Exhibition - 798 Art Zone, Beijing (2004) The Future of Imagination 2: International Performance Art Event, Singapore (2004) Listen to Men's Story From Women - 798 Art Zone, Beijing (2003) 5th International Performance Art Festival - Bangkok (2003) "The Limits of Bodies" - Shangrila Culture and Art Center, Beijing (2002) "Dream02" - OXO Gallery and Barge House, UK (2002) "Dialogue Puzzle" - Padua Youth Museum, Padua (2001)