Active online as a media artist, blogger, activist and programmer, aaajiao is the virtual persona of Shanghai-and Berlin-artist Xu Wenkai. Born in 1984-the title of George Orwell’s classic allegorical novel-and in one of China’s oldest cities, Xi’an. aaajiao’s art and works are marked by a strong dystopian awareness, literati spirits and sophistication. Many of aaajiao’s works speak to new thinkings, controversies and phenomenon around the Internet, with specific projects focusing on the processing of data, the blogsphere and China’s Great Fire Wall. aaajiao’s recent projects extend his practice to various disciplines to capture the pulse of the young generation consuming cyber technology and living in social media.
aaajiao’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions around the world. His recent solo exhibitions are including Deep Simulator at Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea in 2020, Remnants of an Electronic Past at Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art and OCAT Xi’an in 2016 etc. He was awarded the Art Sanya Awards in 2014 Jury Prize and was nominated for the first edition of OCAT-Pierre Huber Art Prize in 2014. aaajiao lives and works in Shanghai and Berlin.
｜Biography｜
1984 Born in Xi'an, China
｜Selected Solo Exhibitions｜
2021 Rehearsing the Future, ALIEN Art Centre, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2021 I was dead on the Internet, Lianhua Apartment, Shanghai, China
2021 Deep Simulator, Tabula Rasa Gallery, London, UK
2020 Deep Simulator, Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte, Rivoli, Italy
2020 URL is LOVE-A Digital Retrospective, Cyberspace, Tabula Rasa Gallery, Tabula Rasa Gallery, London, UK
2020 Cave Simulator, Aike, Shanghai, China
2019 a‘a’a‘jiao: an ID, HOW Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2018 bot, House of Egorn, Berlin, Germany
2018 Gluttony, A Thousand Plateaus Art Space, Chengdu, China
｜Selected Group Exhibitions｜
2021 No Thing is Waiting, Zabludowics Collection, London, UK
2021 NTFs_aaajiao Online: https://piecesofme.online/aaajiao, Transfer and left gallery
2021 AN INTRANSPARENT GAME UNDURCHSICHTIGES SPIEL, Goethe-Institut China, Beijing, China
2021 THE PEACH SPRING BEYOND THIS WORLD, Âme Nue, Hamburg, Germany
2021 2021 CAFAM Techne Triennial - Topologies of the Real, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
2020 PLAYER OF BEINGS, Ming Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2020 Immaterial/Re-material: A Brief History of Computing Art, UCCA, Beijing, China
2020 Ars Electronica In Kepler’s Gardens-A global journey mapping the ‘new’ world, Linz, Austria
2020 WE=LINK-TEN EASY PIECES Online: http://we-link.chronusartcenter.org
2020 Facing the Collector. The Sigg Collection of Contemporary Art from China, Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, Rivoli, Italy
2020 Art Is Still Here: A Hypothetical Show for a Closed Museum, M WOODS, Beijing, China
2019 SYNCHRONICITY, Pingshan Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
2019 The Return of Guests-Selections from the PSA Collection, Shanghai Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2019 A.I. Goooooooooogle infiltration, Efremidis gallery, Berlin, Germany
2019 The Kind Stranger, UNArt Center, Shanghai, China
2019 Open Codes, Connected Bots Chronus Art Center (CAC), Shanghai, China
2019 I Sing the Body Electric, David Zwirner, Hong Kong
2019 Nine Journey Through Time, Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China
2019 Afterimage: Dangdai Yishu, Lisson Gallery, London, UK
2019 13th Cairo Biennale, Egypt
2019 Artificial Intelligence and Intercultural Dialogue, The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
2019 CHINA LANDSCAPE: SELECTIONS FROM THE TAIKANG COLLECTION 2019, 798, Beijing, China
2019 The Evolution of Communication, Design Society, Shenzhen, Chian
2019 New Art History: 2000-2018 Chinese Contemporary Art, MOCA Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
2019 Chinternet Ugly, CFCCA, Manchester, UK
2019 Chinese Whispers-Neue Kunst aus der Sigg Collection, Museum für Angewandte Kunst (MAK), Vienna, Austria
2021.11.20 - 2022.05.29