Chen Tianzhuo was born in Beijing in 1985. In 2009 he received his master’s degree in Fine Arts from the Chelsea College of Art and Central Saint Martin’s. Chen currently lives in Beijing and London.
Chen’s work encompasses performance, videos and installations. He has been shown internationally in both solo and group exhibitions in Manchester, Dubai, Paris, Tokyo and Beijing – also in London and Shanghai, where he has taken part in those cities’ fashion week. Many of his artworks require the participation of others, and might take the form of an underground party, a happening, a staged performance, an invented ritual.
Chen’s art skilfully mingles motifs and symbols from world religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Shamanism) with elements drawn from subculture or cult cultures (drag, rave), popular culture (cartoons, hip hop) and dance (Japanese butoh, vogueing).
Chen’s solo exhibitions include Tianzhuo Chen, which took place at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in 2015. He has also participated in group exhibitions, such as Observer-Creator: The Representation of Reality through Young Chinese Art (Central Academy of Fine Art Museum, Beijing, 2015), Tomorrow’s Party (Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, 2014) and Decorum: Carpets and Tapestries by Artists (Power Station of Art, Shanghai, 2014).