Shen Xin

she/her/hers/they/them/theirs

In-person, Online, & Hybrid mentor

 

 

Shen Xin (b. 1990, Chengdu) creates moving image installations and performances that empower alternative histories, relations, and potentials between individuals and nation-states. They seek to create affirmative spaces of belonging that embrace polyphonic narratives and identities. Shen Xin’s most recent work, Brine Lake (A New Body), had premiered in Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning, Gwangju Biennale (2021), and will have its North American premiere in their first US museum solo exhibition at Walker Art Center (2021). Their selected solo presentation of exhibitions, performances and screenings include Double Feature (Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 2019), Synthetic Types (Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 2019), To Satiate (MadeIn Gallery, Shanghai, 2019), Warm Spell (ICA, London, 2018), Sliced Units (CFCCA, Manchester, 2018), half-sung, half-spoken (Serpentine Galleries, London, 2017), and At Home (Surplus Space, Wuhan, 2016). Selected group exhibitions include Language is a River (MUMA, Melbourne, 2021), An Impulse to Turn (Inside Out Museum, Beijing, 2020), Sigg Prize (M+ Museum, Hong Kong, 2019), Afterimage (Lisson Gallery, London, 2019), and Songs for Sabotage (New Museum Triennial, New York, 2018). They received the BALTIC Artists’ Award (2017) and held the Rijksakademie residency in Amsterdam (2018-19). Shen Xin practice on Miní Sóta Makhóčhe, the land of the Dakhóta Oyáte, as well as in London, UK.

 

 

As an educator, I am interested and committed to facilitating and nurturing open and safe spaces for art practitioners to explore and feel supported as they are challenged to grow. Navigating what an art education could potentially provide, and the relevance of that education in its positioning socio-politically as well as within art worlds, has been important to me as an artist. As an artist working internationally, I have lived and worked in China, Singapore, UK, The Netherlands, and now on Turtle Island, teaching at various institutions including Goldsmiths College of the Arts and the Slade School of Fine Art across departments (MFA, BA, Extension degree). These experiences have been very informative, especially with regards to facilitating affirmative environments for students' different needs, use of languages, perceptions and practices based on their personal backgrounds and experiences. I honor each one of these encounters with intentions to reflect and learn, through active listening, questioning and sharing in relational ways.