A painter, designer, and sculptor, Shao Fan is best known for his series of chairs that reinterpret Ming Dynasty furniture. Shao believes that Ming furniture expresses the chief tenets of Chinese philosophy; by combining ancient designs with the clean lines and geometry of contemporary aesthetics, he suggests the cultural and philosophical changes undergone in modern-day China. Through their resemblance to Chinese characters, some of Shao’s chairs were designed to parody the modern fascination with the logography of Chinese script. He also produces oil paintings that reinterpret the old “literati” style of Chinese paintings, referencing their stark and sober palettes and drawing from Chinese philosophy through their balanced depiction of the natural world. Born into a family of renowned artists—Shao’s parents were assigned to paint Maoist propaganda during the Cultural Revolution—Shao was one of the first Chinese artists to explore the boundaries between visual art and furniture.
1964 Born into an old and celebrated family of artists, Beijing, China
1984 Graduated from Beijing Art and Craft College, China
1985-88 Studied Wood Carving and Porcelain at Art and Craft Research Institute, Beijing, China 1989-94 Worked as a professional painter, Beijing, China
1995 Established Shao Fan No. 1 Studio in Beijing, China
Public Collections:
‘Upset Season’ collected by Japan Tomioka Museum, Japan
‘Work No.5 of Year 2005’ collected by Chengdu Modern Art Museum, Chengdu, China
‘Each Other’ collected by He Xiangning Museum, Shenzhen, China
‘King Chair’, ‘Work No. 1 of Year 2004’, ‘Wei’, ‘Kun’, and ‘Moon’ collected by V&A Museum, UK ‘Xiudun’ collected by Peabody Museum, USA
‘Shadow’, ‘Ming Steel Chair’ collected by Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA
‘Landscape’ collected by Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2010 An Incurable Classicist, Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai, China
2005 Ten Years Ago, Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai, China
2000 NEOTU Design Gallery, Paris, France
1996 Chairs About Chairs, Gallery in Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
2011 SH Contemporary 2011 at Pearl Lam Fine Art, Shanghai, China
Generations of Artists: Shao Jingkun, Shao Fei, Shao Fan, Zhao Tianji. Xiamen Museum of China Profiles, Xiamen, China
Chinese Contemporary Art Group Exhibition – Group Exhibition, Pearl Lam Fine Art, Shanghai, China Uni-Design in China, Beijing Center for the Arts
China International Gallery Exhibition 2011 (CIGE), Contrasts Gallery, Beijing, China
2010 Art Taipei, Taipei World Trade Center Hall 1, Taipei, Taiwan Chinese Contemporary Art, Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai, China
2009 Beijing – Havana The Revolution of Art, National Fine Arts Museum, Havana, Cuba
2008 Chinese Gardens for Living, des staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden, Germany
Beijing – Athens The contemporary art exhibition from China, National contemporary art center of Greece, Athens, Greece
Design Redefined, Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai, China
I Dream, I Seek My Garden, RHS Chelsea Flower Show, London, UK
Design China, V&A museum London, London, UK
2007 REWIND<<REMIX>>FASTFORWARD: Chinese Contemporary Art, Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai, China
ShContemporary, Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai, China
The Essence of Chinese Sensibilities: Contemporary Art and Design, Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai, China 2006 Contrasts and Contradictions – Chapter I. CROSSOVERS // Beyond Art and Design, Contrasts
Gallery, Shanghai, China
Shao Fan-Pierre Marie Lejeune-Sculpteurs- Deux Propositions, Contrasts Gallery, Beijing, China 2005 Contrasts and Contradictions, Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai, China
Chengdu Biennial, Chengdu Modern Art Museum, Chengdu, China
Inspired by China, Invitational Exhibition of Chinese and American Art, Peabody Museum, Peabody,
Connecticut, USA
Awakening: La France Mandarine – The French Influence on Chinese Art, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
2004 Awakening: La France Mandarine – The French Influence on Chinese Art, Urban Planning Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China
Chinese International Architectural Art Biennale, Beijing, China
Made in China, Conceptual Furniture Exhibition, Shanghai, China
Chinese Imagination, Contemporary Chinese Sculpture Exhibition, Tuileries Garden, Paris, France
2003 Conceptual Furniture Exhibition, China Hi-Tech Fair Exhibition Centre, Shenzhen, China 2002 Made for Seat, International Design Exhibition, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China 2001 Who Am I? Invitational Arts Exhibition, Beijing, China
New Phenomenon in Contemporary Chinese Art, Picardi National Museum, France 2000 Contemporary Chinese Sculpture, Oriental Square, Beijing, China
BIG TORINO, Biennale 2000, Torino, Italy
1999 Century Gate, Chengdu Contemporary Art Museum, Chengdu, China
Asian Sculpture Exhibition, Singapore
1988 The Asian Biennale of Fine Arts, Tomioka City Museum, Tomioka, Japan