Yin Xiuzhen

Yin Xiuzhen's work delves into themes of the past and present, memory, globalization, and homogenization.

Biography of Yin Xiuzhen

Yin Xiuzhen was born in 1963 in Beijing, China. She earned her BA from Capital Normal University’s Fine Arts Department in 1989 and began her career thereafter. 

Yin Xiuzhen has participated in numerous significant exhibitions since the 1990s. Her works have been showcased in renowned museums and art institutions globally, including "Inside Out: New Chinese Art "(1998–99) at Asia Society and MoMA PS1 in New York, the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007), the 58th Venice Biennale (2019), and the Elaine Dannheisser Projects Series at MoMA (2010). In 2012, she had a large-scale retrospective at the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands and the Düsseldorf Art Museum in Germany.

Solo exhibitions include "Yin Xiuzhen" at Pace Gallery in Hong Kong (2022), "Sky Patch" at Centre for Heritage Arts and Textile in Hong Kong (2020), "Unknown | Yin Xiuzhen" at Zhi Art Museum in Chengdu (2020), "Made in China 007: Action and Reflection: Yin Xiuzhen" at Museum of Contemporary Art in Yinchuan (2018), and many more.

Yin Xiuzhen's works have been featured in numerous group shows held at variousvenues, including Ennova Art Museum, Shanghai Duolon Museum of Modern Art, Ulsan Art Museum, TAG Art Museum, Suzhou Aimer Kunqu Opera Museum, Centre Pompidou, Chambers Fine Art, among others.

Currentlym the artist lives and works in Beijing, China.

Yin Xiuzhen's Art Style

Yin Xiuzhen is renowned for her sculptures and installations made from secondhand objects such as clothing, shoes, and suitcases. Influenced by Beijing's swiftly evolving cultural landscape, she organizes and restructures these reused items to reveal their individual and collective histories. Her assembled materials serve as sculptural testaments to memory, evoking the lives of individuals often overlooked amidst rapid development, urbanization, and global economic expansion.

Her work explores cultural memory and the profound transformations that took place in China during the late twentieth century. She examines how a global economy and evolving urban attitudes have fostered environments where traditions and objects are increasingly seen as ephemeral or disposable.