Ciu Xiuwen

One of the most prominent of the new generation of Chinese artists, Cui Xiuwen works in many media, including painting, photography and video. Like the Japanese artist Mariko Mori, she investigates identity and cultural sexual stereotypes. Her images of eroticized, apathetic women and prepubescent girls are at once both modern and Chinese. Eerie and upsetting, whether in their quiet violence or bizarre conformity, they manipulate the viewer, playing with the tropes that form our collective social consciousness. Cui Xiuwen does not make categorical statements: instead, she observes, contemplates, and then responds with artwork extraordinary for its plurality and insight. Her work has been show at a solo exhibition at DF2 Gallery, Los Angeles, and in prominent group exhibitions at P.S. 1, the International Center of Photography and the Asia Society in New York, among other international venues.