“One hundred Chinese family names on body 17/2/2021” Print

Sheng Qi came to public attention in 1985 as a key member of China's "New Art Movement." The circle organized a series of collective performance events under the title Concept 21. Most of these involved the participants painting their bodies or wrapping themselves in white cloth while running on the Great Wall, cycling, and doing martial arts and other symbol-laden activities. The end of the 1980s was a turbulent time for performance art in China, and Sheng left Beijing for Europe where he stayed for eight years. He left some of himself behind, though. In a ceremony marking his departure, he cut off the small finger of his left hand and buried it in a flower pot. Since then he has earned a master's degree from London's prestigious St. Martin's Academy of Art and Design, and participated in exhibitions in Europe, Mexico and the United States, including the much-hyped (1998) Inside-Out exhibition in New York that showcased contemporary Chinese art. His performance works as well as his photo-collages and paintings center around issues of identity, sexuality and communication.[1] Many of his recent photos feature the artist himself wearing a military shirt (pinned with a red ribbon), his head covered in red silk, and a bird or butterfly attached by a string to his penis which is bound in white bandages. Another common feature of his work involves asking people to shake his mutilated left hand. Common reactions are misunderstanding and horror--more or less the same as when he hands out red ribbons and HIV education pamphlets.[1] Awards Work in public collections metmuseum smartmuseum