Zhao Yao was born in Sichuan province in 1981 and graduated from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 2004. He currently lives and works in Beijing. His solo exhibitions include “51m: 3# Zhao Yao” at Taikang Space (Beijing, 2010); “Zhao Yao: I Am Your Night” and “Zhao Yao: You Can’t See Me, You Can’t See Me” at Beijing Commune (Beijing, 2011 and 2012); “Spirit Above All” (London, 2013) and "A Painting of Thought" at (Hong Kong, 2015) at Pace Gallery; "The Power of Nature:A Ten Thousand Square Meter Painting in Beijing” at Workers’ Stadium (Beijing, 2018); "Signals from Heaven,Signals from Heaven” at Beijing Commune (Beijing, 2018). Group exhibitions include Fremantle Arts Centre , Australia( 2011); Rubell Family Collection, Miami(2013); Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan(2013); Pinchuk Art Centre , Ukraine(2013); ZKM Center, Germany(2013); UCCA, Beijing(2013); Boijmans Van Beuningen, Nederland,(2014); Inside China, Palais de Tokyo, Paris(2014); Adventures of the Black Square, Whitechapel Gallery,London(2015); Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai(2019).
Solo Exhibitions
Breathing the Universe，Beijing Commune, Beijing, China
Signals from Heaven,Signals from Heaven. Beijing Commune, Beijing, China
The Power of Nature:A Ten Thousand Square Meter Painting in Beijing，Workers’ Stadium，Beijing
The Last Egg, Beijing Commune, Beijing, China
Painting of Thought, Pace Hong Kong, Hong Kong
“Spirit above All”, Pace London gallery, London, UK
“Zhao Yao: You Can’t See Me, You Can’t See Me”, Beijing Commune, Beijing, China
“Zhao Yao: I am Your Night”, Beijing Commune, Beijing, China
“51㎡: 3# Zhao Yao”, Taikang Space, Beijing, China
Group Exhibitions
2023
Up in the Air，Spurs Gallery，Beijing
Living a Performance Artist’s Life, MadeIn Art Museum, Shanghai
Zhao Yao and Masanori Handa,Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan
2022
Being Theoria: 4th Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art,Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou
A Place for Concealment，Galerie Urs Meile，Beijing
Diving Deep for Light into Darkness, Beiqiu Museum of Contemporary Art, Nanjing
Common Ground: UCCA 15th Anniversary Patrons Collection Exhibition,UCCA, Beijing
2020
More, More, More, TANK Shanghai, Shangha
2019
Advent: Inventing Landscape,Producing the Earth, Qianshao Contemporary Art Center,Shanghai
Airport Biennale, Guangzhou
The Curation Workshop – Exhibition Curation And Design, OCT, Shenzhen
An Opera for Animals,Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai
Land Of The Lustrous,UCCA Dune, Qinhuangdao
Hic Sunt Leones, 798 Art Center,Beijing
2018
PLAY, madein gallery，Shanghai
A World in a Grain of Sand: Mapping Shapes and Sites for Social Geometries，Atlantis Sanya,Sanya
Frontier:Re-assessment of Post-Globalisational Politics ，OCT Beijing, Beijing
2017
Frontier:Re-assessment of Post-Globalisational Politics ，OCT Shanghai, Shanghai
The Sun Also Rises，Cc Foundation & Cc Art Center ，Shanghai
REFERENCING ALEXANDER CALDER, klein sun gallery，New York,USA
Young’nergy，Young Chinese Artist of the Year programme， Modern Art Museum Shanghai，Shanghai
Huan Zhong – Nature Follows Abstraction，The KWM artcenter，Beijing，China
Constellations， D. Shevardnadze National Gallery，Georgian National Museum，Georgian
Any Ball，CAFA Art Museum，Beijing，China
2016
Information Sculpture Superhighway, Madein Gallery, Shanghai, China
Bagism, chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Turning Point: Contemporary Art in China Since 2000, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
A Beautiful Disorder, Cass Sculpture Foundation, West Sussex, England, the U.K.
Mountain Sites: Views of Laoshan, Sifang Museum, Nanjing, China
Inexplicit Ethics and De-ranking Perspective, Surplus Space, Wuhan, China
Works of Post 80s after 2008 from Long Museum Collection, Long Museum (Pudong), Shanghai, China
2015
Breaking Through to the Actual via the Imagination: Asian Art from Long Museum Collection, Long Museum (West Bund), Shanghai, China
Inside China—L’Intérieur du Géant, Chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai, Hong kong
Inventing Ritual, Moscow, Graz, Yekaterinburg, shanghai, Sanya, Paris
About Painting Too，OCAT，Xi’an, China
Land, Devil & Night, JNBY, Beijing，China
Absolute Collection Guideline, Sifang Art Museum, NanJing, China
28 Chinese, Art Museum, SF, CA, USA
The BANK Show, Vive le Capital, BANK/MABSOCIETY, Shanghai, China
Adventures of the Black Square—Abstract Art and Society 1915–2015, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK
2014
INSIDE CHINA : L’INTÉRIEUR DU GÉANT，Palais de Tokyo，Paris，France
Asia Triennial Manchester “HARMONIOUS SOCIETY” ，Manchester，UK
“Vitrines sur l’Art” Galeries Lafayette , Paris , France
“Focus Beijing: De Heus-Zomer Collection” Museum Boijmans VanBeuningen, Rotterdam, Nederland’s
The Being Of Non-Being – A Kind Of Personal Expression On ‘Meta-Painting ,Linda Gallery, Beijing, China
“The 2ndCAFAM Biennale：The Invisible Hand: Curating as Gesture” CAFA Art Museum，Beijing，china
2013
“28 Chinese”, Rubell Family Collection, Miami, USA
“Archipelago”,Vartcenter, Shanghai, China
“China China”,PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv , Ukraine
Move on Asia – Video Art in Asia 2002 to 2012, ZKM | Museum of Contemporary Art, Germany
“ON ￨ OFF: China’s Young Artists in Concept and Practice”, The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
2012
“Global Groove”, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan, USA
2011
“The Knife’s Edge”, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, Australia
“51 ㎡ : 16 Young Artists” , Taikang Space, Beijing, China
2010
“Seven Young Artists”, Beijing Commune, Beijing, China
“No Soul for Sale”, Tate Modern Museum, London, UK
“Move on Asia 2010”, Alternative Space LOOP, Seoul, Korea; Para / Site Art Space, Hong Kong, China;
“DISCOVERIES: Re-value”, Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China
“Reflection of Minds-MOCA Shanghai Envisage III”, Museum Of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
“Negotiations: The Second Today’s Documents”, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
“2010 Get It Louder: Sharism”, Sanlitun SOHO, Beijing, China
“Media Landscape-Zone East”, Korean Cultural Centre, London, UK
“Conception as Enzyme”, A4 Contemporary Arts Center, Chengdu, China
2009
“Poetic-Daily: Chinese Young Artist Exhibition”, the thematic project “Art Unforbidden” of Art Beijing 2009,
Beijing, China
“Bourgeoisied Proletariat”, Small Production, Shanghai Songjiang Creative Studio, Shanghai, China
“Re-experimentation: a Reaffirmation of Will and Enlightenment”-Young Artists Promotional Exhibition, Beijing,
China
“Work in Progress: How Do Artists Work”, Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
2008
“The 5th Small Productions Event”, Shopping Gallery, Shanghai, China
“Hui Hua Fei Fa Hui”, Shanghai, China
“Happy Collider” Art Exhibition, Dong Ba County, Beijing, China
“Dream & Reality” Art Exhibition, Moon River Museum of Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
2007
“The Alchemy of Shadows: the Second Lianzhou International Photo Festival (LIPF) 2007”, Lianzhou, Guangdong,
2006
“Entry Gate: Chinese Aesthetics of Heterogeneity”, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
“Six Photos and a Small Room”, Long March Space, Beijing, China
2005
“Rumor Decor, Video & Photograph Exhibition”, DDM Warehouse, Shanghai, China
“Spectacle: ‘Century’ and ‘Paradise’-the Second Chengdu Biennale”, Chengdu Century City, Chengdu, China
“Archaeology of the Future, the Second Triennial of Chinese Art”, Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China