Kan Xuan

Kan Xuan (born in 1972 in Xuancheng, Anhui) is a Chinese contemporary visual artist, known for her experimental video artworks, though some of her work incorporates painting, photography, and performance art. She is considered as one of the most important female video artists of China, and has been active since the late 1990s.

Early life Kan was born in Xuancheng, Anhui Province. where she was part of the evolution of video art from its inception in China. During this time she became friends with video artists already renowned at the time, such as Zhang Peili. She moved to Shanghai after graduating from the China Academy of Art and then moved to Beijing in 1998. To maintain a living, Kan Xuan also did many other jobs such as sculpture assistant, and also worked at a movie production company. It was there she learned how to use the computer, video making, and 3D editing.

Career In 1998, she went to Beijing and worked for a sculpture factory and various film production companies. She participated in her first major group exhibition by showing her still frame video work "Kan Xuan! - Eh!" at the "Art for Sale" exhibition in 1999, which was one of the most innovative experimental art exhibitions to take place in China at the time.

Kan completed a residency at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam from 2002 to 2003.

Artistic style Kan Xuan is often directly associated with the cool end of China's new media and video art. Yet opportunities to see her work, especially in mainland China have been rare. Her first show in Beijing (2003), when her work Looking, Looking, Looking (2002) was included as a part of a touring exhibition named "Under Construction". In the next few years, some of her works were shown in and around 798.

Kan is often featured in her videos. She uses her personal experience as a way to convey the concepts of the works. The artist's modest character is reflected through her work as a subtle, succinct nature; becoming a combination of understated visual components and a consciously slight choice of motifs brought to exploring profound ideas.

Kan often plays with ambiguity and dissonance. Although her works are often short and simple, they allude to a deeper sense of spiritualism.

Personal life Currently, Kan divides her time between Beijing and Amsterdam. 2016: "Kan Xuan" Ikon Gallery (Birmingham)

Selected group exhibitions 1999: "Art for Sale" Modern Art Center (Shanghai) 2000: "Home?, Contemporary Art Exhibition." Yuexing Furniture Plaza (Shanghai) 2002: "The First Guangzhou Trienniale - Reinterpretation: A Decade of Experimental Chinese Art (1990-2000)." Guangdong Museum of Art (Guangzhou) 2002: "Under Construction: New Dimensions of Asian Art." The Japan Foundation Asia Center; Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation 2003: "Alors la Chine?" Centre Pompidou, Paris 2004: "Dial 62761232 (Express Delivery Exhibition), Contemporary Art Exhibition." BizArt, Shanghai 2005: "The Second Guangzhou Triennial, BEYOND: an extraordinary space of experimentation for modernization." Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou 2006: "9th Havana Biennial." National Art Center, Havana, Cuba 2006: "Nunca salgo sin mi cámara / Never Go Out Without My DVcam, Video en china." Museo Colecciones ICO, Madrid, Spain 2006: "China Power Station: Part I." Battersea Power Station (London) 2007: "China Power Station: Part II." Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway 2007: "China Power Station: Part III." National Art Museum, Luxembourg 2007: "Not only Possible, But also Necessary-Optimism in the Age of Global War." 10th International Istanbul Biennial 2007: "Everyday Miracles: Four Women Artists" at The Chinese Pavilion. 52nd Venice Biennale 2008: "Our Future, The Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation Collection." Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing 2009: "Bourgeoisified Proletariat, Contemporary Art Exhibition in Songjiang." Shanghai Songjiang Creative Studio 2010: "Jungle: A Close-Up Focus on Chinese Contemporary Art Trends." Platform China, Beijing 2010: “Kan Xuan: Qingxie de Jiashi” (Kan Xuan: Oblique Housework)." National Art Museum of China, Beijing 2012: "The Unseen - 4th Guangzhou Triennial." The Guangdong Museum of Art 2013: "The Garden of Diversion, Sifang Art Museum Inaugural Exhibition." Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing 2014: "The 8 of Paths, Art Exhibition in the Uferhallen." Uferhallen, Berlin 2015: "Mobile M+: Moving Images." M+ (Hong Kong) 2015: "China 8: Contemporary Art from China at the Rhine and Ruhr." Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg 2016: "Tales of Our Time." Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York, U.S.A.) 2017: "Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World." Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York, U.S.A.) 2018: "Walk Strangely, Stay Strangely: Sora Kim vs Kan Xuan: A Double One Woman Show." Guangdong Times Museum (Guangzhou, China) 2025: "Sigg Collection: Inner Worlds." M+ (Hong Kong)

Private collections Dr. Michael I. Jacobs Collection, U.S.A. M+ Collection, Hong Kong

Honors 2005: Prix de Rome, Netherlands

Selected works and publications Special issue of Fused Magazine published to accompany the Serpentine Gallery exhibition at Battersea Power Station, 8 Oct. - 5 Nov. 2006 Catalog of an exhibition held at Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Sept. 8-Dec. 2, 2007 Catalogue of an exhibition held at Galleria Continua (Beijing), 12 July 2008 Published on the occasion of the exhibition Kan Xuan: Millet Mounds at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, 15 September 2012 – 15 November 2012 Published on the occasion of the exhibition held at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, July 6-September 11, 2016 Published on the occasion of the exhibition Tales of Our Time at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, November 4, 2016 - March 10, 2017