Xu Ziyi

Xu Ziyi, born in 2004 in Hangzhou, China, is currently studying at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. His artistic practice emerges from a sustained exploration of natural history, grounded in a long-term interest in the collection of natural specimens and material remains. Xu investigates narrative discontinuities occurring when objects are separated from their original historical and cultural contexts, and explores the concealed interrelationships among disparate entities. Employing spatial installations, performance, and moving image, he seeks to re-activate the latent kinship hidden beneath surface appearances. His works deliberately liberate objects from conventional historical narratives and cultural frameworks through contextual displacement, creating open-ended and polysemous perceptual structures that remain receptive to new and undefined states of interpretation.

Xu’s recent solo exhibitions and projects include: Fossil Feast (Imagokinetics Lab, BY ART MATTERS, Hangzhou, 2023) and Night Auction (Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing, 2024). Recent group exhibitions include: 4th Nearby Images Festival (Guangzhou, 2023); Unplayable (Atmosphere Space, Nanjing, 2023); Ranran Art Season (Shanghai Xintiandi, Shanghai, 2023); Hinterland Pulse: The 4th Xinjiang International Biennale (Xinjiang Art Museum, Urumqi, 2024); West Bund Art & Design Fair Video Section (West Bund Dream Center, Shanghai, 2024); Liquid Nostalgia (CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, 2025); Open Frame (National Gallery, London, 2025); Hyperobject: The Unknown Visitor, Click Ten Gallery, Beijing, (2025).

In 2023, Xu was shortlisted for the “Ranran Young Artist Award,” jointly initiated by UCCA Center for Contemporary Art and Xintiandi.