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.
Meng Zhou
1992 Born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China
Education:
2016-2018 MA Moving image, Royal College of Arts, London, UK
2013-2016 BA Painting, Camberwell College of Arts, London, UK
Solo Exhibitions:
2020 i of Horus, West Bund Art Fair, Shanghai, CN
2018 Bafeng, Liangshe China, Shanghai, CN
2018 Defibrillation, United Art Museum, Wuhan, CN
2017 Overtone, Art Night, St George in the East, London, UK
2016 0.064g, OXO Tower Gallery, London, UK
2015 Loner, Art Space Bund 22, Shanghai, CN
Group Exhibitions:
2023
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
Eros and Thanatos, 021 Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai, CN
Firework, Beijing Contemporary Art Fair, Beijing, CN
Apophoros, The Quantum Gallery, Shanghai, CN
She/He, Chao Hotel Print Gallery, Beijing, CN
2020
i of Horus, Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai, CN
Cat Lover, A8 Design Center, Chengdu, 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
The Rite of Spring, Art 021 Fair, Shanghai, CN
The Phenomenon, The Quantum Gallery, Shanghai, CN
Art West Lake, International Ink Wash Fair, Hangzhou, CN
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
VVS1, 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
2015
Kynam, UNIT, Dilston Grove&cafe Gallery, London, UK
Emptiness, Elysium, MMX Gallery, London, UK
2014
13 Pieces, Zheyao Wood-fire Ceramics Exhibition, Hangzhou, CN
2013
A Person's Kingdom, Camberwell College of Arts, London, UK
Selected Screenings
2018
Global Film Festival Awards, Los Angeles, CA, US
Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, Jadavpur Kolkata, West Bengal, IN
2017
Palena Film Festival, Via Trento e Trieste, 1 Palena, CH, IT
SIFF - Switzerland International Film Festival Aubonne 1170, SZ
Benicia Film Festival, Benicia, CA, US
Animation Day in Cannes, Cannes, FR
Berlin Flash Film Festival, Berlin, DE
Frostbite International Film Festival, Colorado Springs, CO, US
Artist Residencies
2021/5 La Wayaka
2020/10 Swatch Art Peace Hotel
2019/5 Chateau d'Orquevaux
2019/3 Colab: Body and Place, Historic Collection
2018/9 Cill Rialaig Residency
Prizes
2019 Arte Laguna Prize: Finalist
2018 Arte Laguna Prize: Longlist
2017 Super Young Celeste Art Prize: Winner
2016 Cill Rialaig Residency Award: Winner
Artist Projects
Paprika Collective: www.paprika.org.uk
Speed Curating In Association With Chelsea Arts Club
RCA Degree Show for Tate Patron Collaboration