Yesiyu Zhao
The shifting nature of identity, and its enduring capacity for redefinition, are at the center of Yesiyu Zhao’s practice. Drawing from personal experiences of migration, American and Chinese histories, as well as longstanding societal norms of gendering bodies, the artist’s visual language foregrounds the liberating capacities of art to overturn conventions and represent the overlooked. In a highly symbolic, painterly vocabulary, Zhao creates scenes where archetypal figures—soldiers, lovers, high heels—embody intimate and surreal allegories of living in the world as someone who is positioned as Other. The artist humanizes the multitude of selves that one person can contain, acknowledging the intersectional desire to be seen and understood.
Yesiyu Zhao (1991) was born in Zhejian Province, China, and lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts (2018) and his MFA from SUNY Purchase College (2020). The artist had his first solo exhibition at David Castillo in April 2021.
b. 1991 in Zhejiang, China
EDUCATION
2020
Purchase College, SUNY, Purchase, NY, Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts
2018
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, Honors Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Journey to the West, David Castillo, Miami, FL
2021
Split, DC Triangle, David Castillo, Miami, FL
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
At the Table, Christies, New York, NY
Together, at the Same Time, de la Cruz Museum, Miami, FL
2021
There is only One Direction, de la Cruz Collection, Miami, FL
CURRENTS, David Castillo, Miami, FL
Unsettled Bodies, Art Basel OVR Portals
Queer Out There, Tong Art Advisory, New York, NY
2020
Shadow For Sale, Essex Flowers Gallery, New York, NY
2019
Creatures Such As We, Richard and Dolly Maass Gallery, Purchase, NY
First Works Interested, 1019A Gallery
2018
Everything’s Fine Here, Richard and Dolly Maass Gallery, Purchase, NY
2017
Mementos – Captured Memories, Bigger Code Gallery
Closing Show, Strohl and Fowler-Kellogg Art Center, Chautauqua, NY
2015
Closing Show, Summer Residency at School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
RESEDENCIES/HONORS
2017
Visual Arts Residency at Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY
2015
Summer Residency at School of Visual Arts
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Spotlight”, Art Basel Miami Magazine, December 2021.
Altman – Yee, Riki, “Sum and Substance”, Art Basel Miami Magazine, December 2021.
Altman – Yee, Riki, “Confronting Conformity with Top Talents from Around the Country”, Art Basel Miami Magazine, December 2021.
Pitcher, Laura. Make Room Los Angeles’ Group Exhibition “Desire Encapsulated” Heats Up Hollywood, Observer, June 22, 2021.
Greenberger, Alex, Claire Selvin, Tessa Solomon. ARTnews in Brief: Bennett Prize Names 2021 Recipient—and More from May 28, 2021, ART News, May 24, 2021.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
de la Cruz Museum, Miami, FL
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
