Dai Xiang, born in Tianjin, China in 1978, is a contemporary Chinese artist who was invited to serve as a guest lecturer and visiting scholar at Yale University in the United States. He graduated in 2001 from Nankai University with a major in Chinese painting from the Department of Oriental Art and studied in the Photography and Digital Media Studio at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2004. Dai Xiang's artistic practice spans painting, imagery, multimedia, and other mediums, showcasing his profound mastery across various art forms, particularly excelling in using photography as a medium of expression. He has been recognized by the media as one of the leading figures in Chinese conceptual photography.
Dai Xiang's works have been invited to participate in numerous international art exhibitions, including the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in India, the Houston FotoFest in the United States, the National Photo Biennale in Denmark, the Kunsthalle Nord Art Festival in Germany, and the OSTEN Biennale of Drawing in Skopje, North Macedonia. His works have been published in renowned international magazines such as Aperture (USA), The Sunday Times (UK), Le Monde2 (France), and Art Actuel. His representative works include The New Along the River During the Qingming Festival, The New Lei Feng Stories series, and The New Compilation of Historical Records series. These works have gained widespread recognition both domestically and internationally and have been collected by numerous art institutions and private collectors. Among them, The New Along the River During the Qingming Festival won the highest honor, the "New Photography of the Year Award," at the 10th Lianzhou International Photography Festival, and was featured in a special report by The New York Times, attracting significant attention from both academia and society, becoming one of the most talked-about cultural events of 2014.
Exhibitions
2024 OSTEN BIENNIAL Skopje 2024, OSTEN Art Museum, Skopje, North Macedonia
2024 "The New Along the River During the Qingming Festival" Art Exchange Exhibition, Henry Luce Hall, Yale University, New Haven, United States
2024 "The New Along the River During the Qingming Festival" Art Exchange Exhibition, Pierson College, Yale University, New Haven, United States
2024 "The New Along the River During the Qingming Festival" Art Sharing Event, Humanities Quandrangle, Yale University, New Haven,United States
2022 "Overlapping Kassel" Performance Art Literature Exhibition, Mushroom Factory, Kassel, Germany
2019 "Spectacle 2019" International Art Exchange Exhibition, Jiangxi Normal University Art Gallery,Nanchang, China
2018 Chinese Art Action Documentation 1998-2018, Le Lieu Art Center, Quebec, Canada
2018 "The Scenery in the Books" 100 Books of Chinese Photography, 798 Inter Art Center & Gallery, Beijing, China
2018 "Backlight" Chinese Contemporary Landscape Photography, New Visual Image Arts Centre, Chengdu, China
2017 "Chartcloud" Group Exhibition, Artintern, Beijing, China
2017 "Bizarreland" The International Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Photography, Nantong Central Art Museum, Nantong, China
2017 The FotoFest exhibition International Discoveries VI, Houston, United States
2016 The 3rd edition of The Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Aspinwall, Kochi, India
2016 "Global China" Contemporary Art Exhibition, Green Land Group Center, Zhengzhou,China
2016 "Cities and Memory" The International Photo Biennale, Brandts , Odense, Denmark
2016 "Vulnerability" The Opening Exhibition of Arts and Human Rights in China and the EU, EU embassy in Beijing, China
2016 "Bizarreland" The International Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Photography,Augustiner Art Center, Sonderborg, Denmark
2016 "Parabiosis" The International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Chongqing Yangtze River Museum of Contemporary Art, Chongqing, China
2015 The 17th NordArt, Kunstwerk-Carlshutte, Budelsdorf, Germany
2015 "Bizarreland" Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Photography, the Bonn Center for Contemporary Art, Bonn, Germany
2015 "All Living Creatures" of the Caravan Plan of New Photography, Earth Art Museum, Hefei, China
2015 "Casual Remark & Graphic Language", Dai Xiang Solo Photographic Show, Mont Mogan 523 Art Centre, Shanghai, China
2014 The 10th Lianzhou International Photo Festival, Liangcang, Lianzhou, China
2011 The First Toronto Chinese Photography Festival (TCPF), Toronto, Canada
2010 The Contemporary Chinese Photography Show, Institut Francais, Beijing, China
2010 The 18th Los Angeles International Photo Expo, Santa Monica Convention Center, Los Angeles, United States
2009 MR Gallery Review Exhibition, 798 MR Gallery, Beijing, China
2009 "The New Lei Feng Stories" Dai Xiang Photography Exhibition, Hongkong
2009 "Artistic Beijing" Contemporary Art Expo, National Agriculture Exhibition Center, Beijing, China
2008 The 4th Lianzhou International Photo Festival, Liangcang, Lianzhou, China
2008 "Panorama" The Photographic Exhibition of Four Artists, 798 MR Gallery, Beijing, China
2008 Pingyao International Photography Exhibition, Pingyao, China
2008 The Contemporary Chinese Photography Exhibition, Beijing, China
2008 The 3rd "798 Art Festival", 798 ArtDist, Beijing, China
2007 "Ou and Doll" Modern Art Exhibition, NO.6 Creative Industries, Tianjin, China
2006 Pingyao International Photography Exhibition, Pingyao, China
2005 Pingyao International Photography Exhibition, Pingyao, China
2005 The 14th "Hasselblad" Austrian Super Circuit, Linz, Austria
2004 "Art Party" Three Artists' Exhibition of Shanggucheng, Shanggucheng, Tianjin, China
Awards
2014 The Annual New Photography Award of the 2014 Lianzhou Foto Festival
2011 Winner of Award of Excellence of the First TCPF
2010 Winner of "The Annual Ten Prominent Photographers" of 2010 Limitness Pics
2010 Winner of "Phoenix TV Excellent Photography Album" of 2010 Pingyao International Photography Exhibition
2010 Nominee of French "Talent Photography Fund"
2008 Winner of "Great Works Recommended by the Jury" Prize in the 2008 Pingyao
2005 Winner of Best Works of Young Artists, BASF Original Photography Production
2005 Bronze Award, the 14th Hasselblad Austrian Super Circuit, Austria
2004 2004 Gold Award & Award for the Best Original production, the 6th China Advertising Photography Competition
Lectures and Presentations
"How the Song-dynasty Qingming Scroll Inspired 'The New Qingming Scroll'"
Henry R. Luce Hall, Yale University, New Haven, USA. February 21, 2024.
