Born in Inner Mongolia in 1967, Cang Xin moved to Beijing in the early 1990s and became a core member of the Beijing East Village community, a radical collective that redefined the trajectory of contemporary Chinese art. His early performances, including the iconic To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain (1995), continue to resonate in academic, curatorial and critical discourses around the world.
Spanning photography, performance, installation and curation, Cang Xin’s work has been presented in some of the most respected institutions across the globe, from the Hammer Museum and MoMA New York to the National Gallery of Victoria and the Tate Modern. Deeply rooted in shamanic traditions and Taoist philosophy, his art acts as a form of spiritual inquiry and social commentary.
Alongside his artistic practice, Cang Xin has curated numerous exhibitions, particularly at Beijing’s Rainbow Wall Art Gallery, and remains a leading figure in the development of performance art in China. His projects in recent years, such as the City Healing Personal Art Project, continue to address the urgency of spiritual regeneration in the face of contemporary crises.
His work is held in over 40 major international museum collections, and he has been the subject of multiple solo retrospectives in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Born in Inner Mongolia in 1967, Cang Xin moved to Beijing in the early 1990s and became a core member of the Beijing East Village community, a radical collective that redefined the trajectory of contemporary Chinese art. His early performances, including the iconic To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain (1995),continue to resonate in academic, curatorial and critical discourses around the world.
Spanning photography, performance, installation and curation, Cang Xin’s work has been presented in some of the most respected institutions across the globe, from the Hammer Museum and MoMA New York to the National Gallery of Victoria and the Tate Modern. Deeply rooted in shamanic traditions and Taoist philosophy, his art acts as a form of spiritual inquiry and social commentary.
Alongside his artistic practice, Cang Xin has curated numerous exhibitions, particularly at Beijing’s Rainbow Wall Art Gallery, and remains a leading figure in the development of performance art in China. His projects in recent years, such as the City Healing Personal Art Project, continue to address the urgency of spiritual regeneration in the face of contemporary crises.
His work is held in over 40 major international museum collections, and he has been the subject of multiple solo retrospectives in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
