He Chengyao

He Chengyao
Native name 何成瑤
Born 1964
Sichuan, China
Alma mater Central Academy of Fine Arts
Known for Performance artist

He Chengyao (Chinese: 何成瑤; born 1964) is a Chinese artist residing in Beijing, China. Her artwork explores nudity, mental illness, memory, and mother-daughter relationships through performance, photography, and video.[1] He's work has been widely exhibited in China, Italy, Japan, South Korea, United Kingdom, and the United States.

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 He and the couple subsequently had two more children.[1]

During He's childhood, the Cultural Revolution gained momentum and He's father was imprisoned for his political views. This left He's mother to raise the children on her own. Having faced years of humiliation from giving birth out of wedlock, He's mother was left with no job and a jailed husband and began suffering from considerable mental distress. He's mother started to strip in public, causing her children discomfort and shame. He speculates that her mother was predisposed to mental illness as her grandfather also suffered from similar mental distress.[1]

He taught mathematics at an elementary school for three years before attending the Sichaun Fine Art University in 1989.[2] In 2001, He graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.[3]

Art work

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 top and walking partially nude among German artist H.A. Schult's installations.[4] The photograph of her performance is titled "Opening the Great Wall".[1]

He's work consciously highlights the role mental illness has played in her life and her family's history.[4] 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.[1] Critics have also stressed how He's performance work engages with feminism, body politics, and nationalist and transnational issues.[2][5]

Solo exhibitions[3]

Group exhibitions[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Tatlow, Didi Kirsten. "'She. Herself. Naked.': The Art of He Chengyao". Sinosphere Blog. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  2. 1 2 "Brooklyn Museum: Chengyao He". www.brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  3. 1 2 3 He, Chengyao. "He Chengyao CV" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  4. 1 2 culturebase.net. "Cheng Yao He artist portrait - culturebase.net". www.culturebase.net. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  5. ↑ "Perspective Project". www.perspectiveproject.ro. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
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