Artists Profile

Leeza Meksin is an interdisciplinary artist based in New York, whose work spans painting, installation, public art, and limited edition pieces. Her artistic practice focuses on exploring the intrinsic connections and similarities between painting, architecture, and the human body. Meksin has created site-specific installations for major art institutions including the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Brooklyn Academy of Music, National Academy of Design, Uptown Triennial in New York City, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, The Kitchen, and BRIC Media Arts Center. Her paintings have been exhibited at Regina Rex Gallery, Thomas Erben Gallery, and Brandeis University. In 2021, she received the NYFA/NY State Council on the Arts Interdisciplinary Artist Grant; in 2015, she was awarded the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Grant. In 2019, she was invited as an artist-in-residence at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas. Her work and practice have been featured in Bomb, Brooklyn Rail, The New York Times, Hyperallergic, Chicago Tribune, and Village Voice. In 2013, Meksin co-founded the artist-run gallery Ortega y Gasset Projects in Brooklyn and continues to serve as co-director. She holds an MFA from Yale School of Art, a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a BA/MA in Comparative Literature from the University of Chicago. In 2021, she joined the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) at Cornell University as faculty.

Born in 1974 in Nanchang, Jiangxi, Chen Hui is an artist who graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in Character Design in 1996 and received a master's degree in oil painting from the Chinese Academy of Arts in 2009. She is currently a teacher at the Communication University of China and also leads the music performance program at Guangdong Women's Vocational Technical College. In 2005, she began her painting career with the oil painting "Little Q". Her representative works include the series "Cream Strawberry", "Dream in the Garden", and "Your Portrait". In 2008, she designed character styling for the drama "Ming" at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. Solo exhibitions include "Chen Hui Painting Exhibition" at the Communication University of China (1999), "Whatever — Chen Hui Works Exhibition" at Beijing Siheyuan Gallery (2007), "Quhuo — Chen Hui Solo Exhibition" at Switzerland Meile Gallery (2011), and "Becoming a Cactus — Chen Hui Solo Exhibition" at 798 Chunchen Contemporary Art Research Center in Beijing. She participated in group exhibitions such as "Internal Combustion — China's New Generation of Female Art" (2016) and "Moment, Presence — Walking with Her" (2021). She also participated in the National Art Fund project "Long Song Xiaoxiang" and performed in various folk music concerts.

Xu Changyuan (born November 1986 in Rizhao, Shandong) is a Chinese artist who graduated from Studio Three of the Sculpture Department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2015 and currently lives and works in Beijing. His creations mainly use elm and camphor wood, involving themes such as the relationship between body and space and the meaning of life. He subscribes to sculptor Antony Gormley's concept of "the body as a place", and his creative direction is influenced by Maurice Merleau-Ponty's theory of embodied space.

In 2015, his "Practice Series" won the Silver Award at the National College Graduate Sculpture Exhibition and was collected by the CAFA Art Museum. In 2021, he held solo exhibitions such as "Focus is Prayer". In 2024, he held the solo exhibition "Return" at E-LAND Gallery in Seoul, Korea, and participated in the group exhibition "Attitude Towards Her" at the Jinan International Biennale. In June 2025, he held the exhibition "Carving Images — For the Eternal You" at 798 Art District, moved his studio to the exhibition hall, and invited the public to participate in wood carving creation.

Yang Yexin (Forest Young), male, born December 9, 1973 in Taizhou, Zhejiang, graduated from Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts. He is the founder and chairman of Shanghai Tianyu Advertising Co., Ltd., and has served as creative group director at Shanghai SAATCHI&SAATCHI and LEO BURNETT.

In 2008, Yang initiated the New Citizen Project (Untouchable Textbook), pioneering the use of installation art in public welfare activities. In 2010, he launched the Yang Ai Art Project. In November 2013, Shanghai Tianyu Advertising Co., Ltd. was established, with Yang as the legal representative. In 2021, Yang threw 1,000 grains of pure gold rice made from 500 grams of gold into the Huangpu River, becoming one of the most talked-about cultural art events in China that year. In 2022, he mixed nearly 100,000 strands of hair grown during the pandemic into oil paint to create a painting of the Oriental Pearl to commemorate the pandemic days. In June 2023, the Yang Yexin Art Center officially opened; in October, he completed the performance art "The Life of Rice Baby". In April 2024, his solo exhibition "We Are All Autistic" was held; in November, his touring exhibition "Countdown" opened at Shanghai M50 Art Park. On March 30, 2025, in an exhibition called "Gold Rice", Yang used 500 grams of gold to create 1,000 grains of gold rice, which were mixed into 10,000 jin of ordinary rice and paddy, inviting the audience to "pan for gold rice", sparking controversy and criticism for wasting food. The organizers responded that the rice would not be wasted and would be used for other purposes after the exhibition.

Yang is the first Chinese artist to introduce installation art and performance art into the advertising field, the only creative person in China to win the Lion Award at the Cannes Creativity Festival for five consecutive years (2009-2013), a co-founder of the China Independent Creative Alliance (CIA), and one of Shanghai's top ten young high-end creative talents.

Wu Xiaohai, born in 1972 in Liuyang, Hunan Province, is a Chinese artist. He graduated from the Mural Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1996 with a bachelor's degree, later obtained a master's degree, and has served as director of the Material Studio and Fifth Studio of the Mural Department. In 2011, he received a full scholarship from the Ministry of Education to study at Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London. He is currently a professor, doctoral supervisor, and deputy dean of the Graduate School at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1996, he participated in the creation of the mural in the lobby of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. In 2008, he was named one of the "Top Ten Most Promising Artists in the World" by French BEAUX ART magazine and participated in the campus art project at Jilin University. In 2019, he led the design of the parade float for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. He has presided over projects such as "Beautiful Painted Villages" in Dashuiyu Village, Huairou District, Beijing, and held the solo exhibition "Myth" at 798 Art District in 2024. He has held solo exhibitions such as "Natural Consciousness" at Emmaus Art Center (2023) and "Legend" at Fan Shi Art Center (2021). He teaches courses such as "Material Language (II)" in the Mural Department and supervises master's students in the direction of "Contemporary Art Material Language Research".