Chu Chu is an accomplished ink painter, calligrapher, photographer, and oil painter. She is currently the Vice Secretary of Lanting Calligraphy Society and the Vice President of Zhejiang female Calligraphers Association in Hangzhou. She was born in 1975 in Hangzhou and graduated from the Department of oil painting at the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou in 2000, where she also received her MFA in new media in 2007, and in 2015 attained her PhD in calligraphy under the tutelage of Wang Dongling. Her diverse academic background covering traditional and modern media has led to her unique artistic language. She has been devoted to ink painting and seeks to incorporate this art form with photography and calligraphy. She has received several prestigious awards since 2000 including the Shiseido Prize of Best Female Photographer, the Three Shadows Photography Award, Beijing, 2011; Yearly Cutting-edge Photographer, selected by www.xitek.com, Beijing, 2010; Creative Award of New Media, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, 2006; Excellent Works Award, New Century Oil Painting Exhibition, Hangzhou, 2001; Excellent Works Award, Zhao Mengfu Prize, National Painting Competition, China, 2000.
Chu’s work has been widely exhibited in France, Germany, England, USA, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong. Important exhibitions include Jetlag: New Media Exhibition, Hannover Exhibition Centre, Hanover, Germany, 2012; Photo Paris, Louvre, Paris, France, 2014; Writing Non-writing, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China, 2015; Out of the Shadows: Contemporary Chinese Photography, Museum of Photographic Art, San Diego, USA, 2020; Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions, Asia Society Texas, Houston, USA, 2023.
Her works are in the collections of major museums including Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Stavanger Museum, Stavanger, Norway, Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China.
Alisan Fine Arts first showcased Chu Chu's work in the gallery's landmark exhibition Beyond the Jade Terrace in 2014. Subsequently, we hosted her solo exhibitions Images of Objects and Awakening in Hong Kong in 2017 and 2023, respectively. In 2024, our New York gallery's group exhibition Landscape as Metaphor also featured her cross-disciplinary calligraphy. Over the past decade, we have exhibited her works at various art fairs worldwide, including Asian Art in London, Art Basel Hong Kong, Taipei Dangdai, and Ink Asia.
BIOGRAPHY
1975 Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
1980 Started to learn Chinese ink painting
2000 BA, Major in Oil Painting, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
Curator, Hangzhou group exhibition for 6 female artists Untitled, 2000 Present
2007 MA, New Media, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China, studied under Jiao Jian
Lecturer, Department of Art, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
2015 PhD, Calligraphy, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China, studied under Wang Dongling
Jury, 25th National Photographic Art Exhibition, China Millennium Monument, Beijing, China
2016 Guest professor, Faculty of Humanities, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Associate professor, Research Centre of Modern Calligraphy, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
2017 Christie's produced a video about Chu Chu's art
2018 Featured by Poetry Calligraphy Painting Quarterly No.2, Beijing, China
2020 Featured by Shanghai Photography, 1st issue 2020, Shanghai, China
Potry and All Things, Dialogue with Chu Chu Live-streaming, Hangzhou, China
Chu Chu: Photography and Multi-media, a talk of Chu Chu's new works, Department of Art, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
2022 Waving Clouds and Flwoing River cross media performance, Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake, Hangzhou, China
Present Vice Secretary, Lanting Calligraphy Society, Hangzhou, China
Vice President, Zhejiang Female Calligraphers Association, Hangzhou, China
Vice President, Zhejiang Culture and Tourism Photographers Association, Hangzhou, China
Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
Beyond Tradition: The Metamorphosis of Chinese Art, Alisan Fine Arts, Cromwell Place, London, UK
Ink Asia, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions, Asia Society Texas, Houston, USA
Taipei Dangdai, Alisan Fine Arts, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taipei, Taiwan
2019
Writing Non-writing: Hangzhou International Modern Calligraphy Exhibition, Art Museum of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
Women Ink | China Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts-Central, Hong Kong
Art West Lake · The 2nd International Ink Wash Fair, Hangzhou Peace International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hangzhou, China
2018
40 Years of Chinese Contemporary Photography, OCAT Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
2018 Art Weihai: Research Exhibition of Famous Contemporary Ink Artists, Weihai Art Museum, Qingdao, China
2017
2016
2014
2011
2010
2008
2006
2005
2004
2003
2001
2000
SELECTED AWARDS
2011 Shiseido Prize of Best Female Photographer, Three Shadows Photography Award, Beijing, China
2010 Yearly Cutting-edge Photographer, selected by www.xitek.com, Beijing, China
2006 Creative Award of New Media, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
2001 Excellent Works Award, New Century Oil Painting Exhibition, Hangzhou, China
2000 Excellent Works Award, Zhao Mengfu Prize, National Painting Competition, China
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA
Pompidou Centre, Paris, France
Stavanger Kunstmuseum, Stavanger, Norway
Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Shanghai, China
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2023 Photographic Apocalypse, Zhejiang Photographic Press, Zhejiang, China
2022 Rose and Parakeet, Writing Non-writing Culture and Art, Hangzhou, China
2022 Photography Inspiration, Zhejiang Photographic Press, Hangzhou, China
2019 Xunzhao Taohuayuan, Hangzhou Press, Hangzhou, China
2016 Wuwufeishi - Chu Chu, Jianghong Museum of Art, Hangzhou, China
2014 Beyond the Jade Terrace, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
2014 Chu Chu Photography: MATERIAL IMMATERIAL 2014, +3 Gallery, Beijing, China
2013 The Adjustment of Controversies, Zhejiang, China
2011 Contemporary Chinese Photography, China Youth Publishing Group, China
2010 25 Cutting-edge Chinese Photographer, Zhejiang Photographic Press, China
2008 Chu Chu, China Academy of Art Press, Hangzhou, China
1997 Poem “Xiangdie” was published in Genesis periodical, overseas & Poem “Bottle” was published in Author periodical
