Qiu Zhijie

Qiu Zhijie (邱志杰; born 1969) is a contemporary Chinese artist who works primarily in video and photography. Overall, Qiu's work suggests the struggle between the forces of destiny and self-assertion. Other common themes are social fragmentation and transience.

Qiu was born in 1969 in Fujian province. In 1992, he graduated from the printmaking department at Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou. He now lives and works in Beijing.

The artist's break-through exhibition was in 1992 with China's New Art, Post-1989 at the Hanart Gallery and Hong Kong Arts Centre. By 1999, his work began receiving overseas interest with his inclusion in Revolutionary Capitals: Beijing-London at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. In 2007 he had his first solo exhibition in the United States at the New York gallery Chambers Fine Art.

In 2005, his work was exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum's Between Past And Future: New Photography And Video From China, including Tattoo 1, which explores Qiu's assertion that in our media-saturated age, "signs and codes have overpowered actual human beings, and our bodies have become merely their vehicles." The character bu — meaning "no" — is written across the artist's body and on the wall behind him, creating the illusion that it floats free of the body.

Life and work Tattoo Series No. 3, No. 6, and No. 5 (1997) at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in 2022 Qiu was born in 1969 in Fujian province, China. He graduated from the printmaking department of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou in 1992. The installation featured 16 glass panels of different sizes on which texts, slogans, and figures were printed. The installation create a translucent labyrinth from these panels, which allowed the audience to take part in the work as their bodies filled the clear sections of the glass panels. These "ghosts" imply a sense that they are coming and going but never stationary enough to make a lasting impression, as the buildings have. His Propagator in the Darkness lithograph also presents this theme. The lithograph displays a skeleton shouting through a megaphone inside a bell. Regarding this work, Qiu has said "No one can see him or hear him, but he's still showing his propaganda slogan. For me this is about sounds disappearing, about the past disappearing. Whether it's good or not, we don't know. It's quite a complicated feeling." He also curated "Phenomena and Image" in 1996, a series of exhibitions with the theme of “Post-sense Sensibility” between 1999 and 2004, “Long March, A Walking Visual Display” in 2002, and the video portion of the First Guangzhou Triennial and “Archeology of Future: The Second Triennial of Chinese Art” in 2005.

2018 - Qiu Zhijie: Living Writing. 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Kanazawa, Japan 2011 - Qiu Zhijie: DEJA VU. Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong 2009 - Mochou. Chambers Fine Art, New York City, United States 2009 - A Suicidology of The Nanjing Yangzi River Bridge 3 - Breaking through the ice. UCCA, Beijing 2008 - A Suicidology of The Nanjing Yangzi River Bridge 1 -Ataraxic of Zhuang Zi. Shanghai Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai 2008 - A Suicidology of The Nanjing Yangzi River Bridge 1. The Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore 2008 - The Bridge, Nanjing, Under the Heaven. The Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore 2008 - Mochou. Chambers Fine Art, Beijing 2008 - The Bridge, Nanjing, Under the Heaven. Hanart Gallery, Hong Kong 2008 - Nanjing : A bridge, A City. Guanxiang Art Center, Taipei 2007 - The Shape of Time. Chambers Fine Art, New York City, United States 2007 - Cryptogram. Hanart Gallery, Hong Kong 2007 - Archeology of Memory. Long March Space, Beijing 2006 - Let there be Light. Grace Li Gallery, Zürich, Switzerland 2005 - Light and Words. Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong 2005 - Melancholy Man. Gallery Loft, Paris, France 2005 - Black and White Zoo. Gallery of Dartington Art Academy, United Kingdom 2004 - Social Portrait. Courtyard Gallery, Beijing, China 2003-2004 - Asian Parallel Times. Hong Kong Art Museum, Hong Kong, Casa Asia, Barcelona, Spain, & Shenzhen Art Institute, Shenzhen, China 2003 - UFO: Qiu Zhijie's Photography/Calligraphy. Gallery Loft, Paris, France 2001 - Qiu Zhijie. Gallery Gen, Koshigaya, Japan 2001 - Invisibility: Qiu Zhijie. Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York City, United States 2000 - Touch. Orient Foundation, Macau 1999 - Calendar 1998. Gallery of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China 1999 - Innate Forces – Mixed Media: Works by Qiu Zhijie. Art Beatus Gallery, Vancouver, Canada 1997 - Logic: 5 Video-Installations. Gallery of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China