Shi Xinning

Shi Xinning (石心宁; born 1969, in Liaoning Province, China) is a painter based in Beijing.

Influenced by both social realism and European styles, he specialises in historical paintings that insert Mao Zedong into iconic social and political photos of the 20th century - such as the Yalta Conference, the HUAC hearings, and a state procession of the British Queen Mother.

He has shown work internationally in many exhibitions including Mahjong at the Kunstmuseum in Bern, China Art Now at the Marella Gallery in Milan, China Contemporary Painting at Fondazione Carisbo in Bologna, and Landscapes at the Shanghai Gallery of Art.

He is represented by the Marella Gallery in Beijing and Milan, Shine Art Space in Shanghai, and by ARNDT in Berlin.

Life and work Shi Xinning was born in 1969, in Liaoning Province, China to his parents who were People's Liberation Army members. Xinning received a formal education in art at the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts in Shenyang, Liaoning Province.

Shi Xinning´s work appears in the "China Art Book", The 80 most renowned Chinese Artists, DUMONT

When referring to the purpose or meaning behind his inclusion of Mao Zedong in his paintings, Xinning cited influences from his early life in China during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Xinning said regarding his work: "These are Shi Xinning's black-and-white visions of the way Mao's China could have been if China hadn't isolated itself from the capitalist West." Shi Xinning's "Yalta" painting was valued in 2008 to be worth between 98,020 and 137,227 USD at auction.

Visual style and themes Xinning relies heavily on the usage of icons and visual themes from the Chinese Cultural Revolution, particularly the likeness of Mao Zedong. Xinning's art deals with impossibility and anachronism, as Xinning introduces Mao into impossible situations. Xinning never paints Mao in a more accurate or relevant time period or location, as Xinning entirely avoids painting Mao in the 1960s and 1970s.

2005 - The Road Map of Painting, Beijing 2005 - The Other Shore of This Shore, Pingyao 2005 - Ma Jiang, Exhibition of Mr. Uli Sigg Collection Berne, Switzerland 2005 - China Contemporary Painting, Marella Arte Contemporanea Bologna, Italy 2004 - Land_Scapes, Shanghai Gallery of Art 2004 - New Perspectives in Chinese Painting, Marella Arte Contemporanea 2004 - China's Photographic Painting, China Art Seasons, 798 Art Zone, Beijing 2003 - Moyemode Moyemobude, 798 Art Zone, Beijing 2003 - China Art Now Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy 2002 - Contemporary Art Exhibition, Deduct Fabricate Copy, Beijing 2001 - Fake Reality, Beijing (solo) 1999 - Contemporary Art Show "Out-of-control", Beijing 1998 - Contemporary Art Exhibition, "In the City- Individuality", Beijing 1994 - Northeast China Contemporary Art Exhibition, Shenyang 1993 - China Biannual Oil Painting Exhibition, Beijing