Chinese contemporary artist Hong Hao was born in 1965 in Beijing, China. In 1989 he graduated from the printmaking department of the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing. Hao is well-known for his series, My Things, which he started in 2001.

Available Hong Hao works:

Early works

In Hao's works from the early 1990s we see an interest in cartography. His maps from that time show some aspects of Chinese history, philosophy and ideology. Later, we see Hong Hao portraying in his work the consumerism of the Chinese people, which emerged from the economic reforms of leader Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2005, the art collective PFSO (Polit-Sheer-Form Office) was founded by Hong Hao together with Xiao Yu, Song Dong, Liu Jianhua and Leng Lin. The idea behind this group was to seek a collective form that would purify the politics, culture, economy and everyday life in China. This group has existed for 6 years and had a humorous undertone, the name was a reference to the ridiculous government offices in China. Next to a badge and propaganda posters they created their own fake library of 10.000 numbered blue books but without any content.

Assembling images: My Things

After his focus on printmaking Hong Hao began working with photography in 1999. The series My Things was started in 2001. The work My Things 6 (Book-keeping) from 2007 in the collection of Wiegersma Consultancy & Expertise is a fine example of this kind of work. In the My Things series one sees the evolution of Chinese consumer culture through Hong Hao's own life and possessions, for example in the work My Things 6 (Book-keeping) , his own collection of books.

In Hong's My Things one sees many random objects packed together in a small space. At first glance this looks chaotic, but in fact all objects have been arranged with the greatest care. This makes these works very decorative and one keeps looking at them in an attempt to organize the objects, which is almost impossible and gives you a headache in the long run.

Recognition