Meng Zhou

My work addresses issues of ecology, cultural heritage, notions of transition and transformation. Working across installation, moving image, painting, and sculpture, my work examines my reflection on human responsibilities to the cultural and ecological environment, and our shared heritage.

Working with found materials, natural curiosities, traditional and more modern media, and drawing on mythologies and folklore my work addresses the impacts of ecology, cultural heritage and tradition on modern subjectivities. By interested in borrowing, bricolage and pastiche, I am interested in drawing out moments of conversation and of conflict between tradition and modernity to illuminate where we are now. The works that I create are composites drawn from a combination of dreamscapes, material culture, and myth, always oscillating between figuration and abstraction.

Accident and the unexpected invariably inform the direction of my work. I envisage each interaction with materials as a kind of journey rather than a translation of form, and I am constantly drawn back to the tactile nature of my materials.

STUDIO

Solo Exhibition:

2024 II Trovatore, BMCA, Munch, DE

2024 Vacuum, R Plus, Hangzhou, CN

2023 Incomplete Wonder, Nan Ke Gallery, Shanghai, CN

2018 Bafeng, Liangshe China, Shanghai, CN

2017 Overtone, Art Night, St George in the East, London, UK

2016 0.064g, OXO Tower Gallery, London, UK

Selected Exhibition:

2024

Lunar Maria, W.Onespace, Shenzhen, CN

Until We Meet, Double Double Space, Beijing, CN

Can Thought Go On Without Body, Stilllife, New York, US

2023

Evolution: Singularity, Nan Ke Gallery, Shanghai, CN

Autrement Dit La Vie, Liusa Wang Gallery, Paris, FR

Preconscious Landscape, Ainalaiyn Space, London, UK

2022

Tata-Shehe, Gallery at Green and Stone, London, UK

2021

Apophoros, The Quantum Gallery, Shanghai, CN

2020

i of Horus, Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai, CN

Living Dream, Chelsea Arts Club, London, UK

2019

9019 6106, Brownie/ Project, Shanghai, CN

Continuous Regeneration, Columbia Circle, Shanghai, CN

Dyson Gallery, Royal College of Art, London, UK

Art Laguna Prize, Arsenale of Venice, Venice, IT

Neko No Koi, Royal College of Music, London, UK

Here, The Oculus, World Trade Center, New York City, US

Personal Structures, GAA Foundation, Venice, IT

OGA, Ospizio Giovani Artisti, Roma, IT

2018

Lotus Eaters, Triton st Regent’s Place, London, UK

Ink Painting as a Cultural Gesture, Dingyuan International Art Center, Beijing, CN

Mei Exhibition, Shanghai Himalaya Museum, Shanghai, CN

United Art Museum Collection Exhibition, Wuhan, CN

Visions in the Nunnery, The Nunnery Gallery, London, UK

Travers Smith Art Program, London, UK

RCA Degree show, London, UK

Soapbox, Close-up Cinema, London, UK

EO VI, Axisweb Streetplayer, England Touring, UK

Totem and Taboo, Chelsea Arts Club, London, UK

Artrooms, the Meliã White House, London, UK

2017

Moving Image Finalist, National Open Art, London, UK

Super Young Finalist, Celeste Prize, Bargehouse, London, UK

Anonym, Florence Biennale, Fortezza da Basso – Padiglione Spadolini Florence, IT

The Moon in the Mirror, PARTIA at Aintree University Hospital NHS Trust, Liverpool, UK

Core, Animotion, StrangeLove Festival, Folkestone, UK

WIP, Royal College of Art, London, UK

2016

20th National Open Art Winners' Exhibition, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK

Mr Lei Rain Rain Rain, National Open Art, Mercer's Hall, London, UK

In/Out, Camberwell Summer Show, Camberwell College of Art, London, UK

Landscape, Young Arts Academy Curates, Barbican Center, London, UK

Education:

2016-2018 MA Moving Image, Royal College of Arts, London, UK

2013-2016 BA Painting, Camberwell College of Arts, London, UK

Residency:

2022/5 La Wayaka, Panama

2021/3 Chao Hotel, China

2020/10 Swatch Art Peace Hotel, China

2019/5 Chateau d’Orquevaux, France

2019/3 Colab: Body and Place, Historic Collection, England

2018/9 Cill Rialaig Residency, Ireland