Ruofan Chen

1996 Born in Hubei, China

2019 Graduated from School of Visual Arts, New York, USA with a bachelor’s degree

2021 Graduated from Royal College of Art, London, UK with a master’s degree

SOLO EXHIBITION

2020

White Peach, Powerlong Art Center, Xiamen, China

Property of Neutral, Paper Gallery, Manchester, UK

GROUP EXHIBITION

2021

Low Fever, Tang Contemporary Art, Hong-Kong, China

PROXY, Cromwell Place, London, UK

Before Rejuvenation, Coutts Art Center, Shanghai, China

The 195th RSA Annual Exhibition 2021, the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK

Carry-On, Yuan Art Museum, Beijing, China

Embedded, Embodied Being, Cubism_ Art Space, Shanghai, China

SHRINE Group Show, SHRINE, New York, USA

2020

Phase Transition, West Bund Art Center, Shanghai, China

36th Annual Open Exhibition, Southwark Park Galleries, London, UK

Zai?, Enjoy Museum of Art, Beijing, China

Wander, ZHIYE Art Museum, Xi’an, China

Unbounded Group Exhibition, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Xiamen, China

The Intermission, Issuing Gallery, Shenzhen, China

Feed Your Demons and Meet the Ally, ONE Project, London, UK

Social Distance, The Royal Society of American Art in New York, USA

VOGUE, Boomer Gallery, London, UK

Beyond the Fence, Wells Projects, London, UK

Counter Point, Courtyard Gallery RCA, London, UK

Dream, Grapevine, London, UK

Tumbleweed & Walking People, No Space, London, UK

Anthropologio, Gallery Art Number 23, Athens, Greece

Seen Forms, HYB4 Galerie, Prague, Czech Republic

WIP, Royal College of Art, London, UK

2019

Open, Deptford Does Art, London, UK

Vicious Circle, Gallery Art Number 23, London, UK

Rechewing, RCA Dyson Gallery, London, UK

Light, SVA Chelsea Gallery, New York, USA

Liminality, SVA Chelsea Gallery, New York, USA

Silence, School of Visual Arts, New York, USA

2018

Eight Year Anniversary Exhibition, Dacia Gallery, New York, USA

2017

Alumni Retrospect Exhibition of CAA, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China

My latest direction of works are very flat-matte oriented with layouts of nostalgic-design and some studies on digital medium. The goal of my current studies is learning how the expressions of idea could be well-coordinated with vibrant hue accordingly with relevant details. Strictly saying, as myself understands the procedure of establishing series of artworks as solving mandatory labor, mathematical recitations of measurements and convincing cut lines of summaries are some artistic virtue as principle of my personal interest.

Chen's White Peach, 2020 series criticizes the limitations of language in contemporary art. The butts depicted by Chen are full and round like fresh white peaches, and the enlarged part reveals the ambiguity in disguise. Therefore, when audiences see the images, they will subconsciously think that this is a full butt. However, Chen uses White Peach as the title to deny the audiences' inertial thinking and Force them to rethink the work. Perhaps, we will have a better perception of reality by jumping out of the trap set by language and symbol. It is audiences' continuous thinking and interpretations that make art obtain infinite possibilities and new life.

Chen Ruofan's artworks cross the boundaries between traditional and new media, exploring the integration of painting and technology. Chen first used Rhino, Keyshot and other 3D modelling software to render the object and then used the oil painting to create on the canvas. In her paintings, people can see the image-tearing and mosaic effects that occasionally happened in digital products. Through the appropriate deformation of the image, Chen cleverly discussed the phenomenon of a highly cybernetic society.

Through the latest series, Unknown Sense, 2020, Chen expressed her concern about the coexistence of human beings and technology in the future. "In the future, the memories of different stages in our life can even be stored as fragments through technology. Then where should our flesh, soul and humanity go?" In the 21st century, an era of excessive digitization, industrialization, and increasing reliance on high-tech technology, Chen Ruofan hopes to use these artificially portrayed "bugs" in her works to arouse the audience's sensibility in this "imperfection."