Hong Lei (artist)

Hong Lei (; born 1960) is one of the leading artists in the era of China's New Photography movement in the 1990s.
Early life.
Hong was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu in 1960 and graduated from Nanjing University of the Arts in 1987. In 1992, he went to the China Central Academy of Fine Arts to pursue advanced studies in printmaking. Inspired by his early art experience in Yuan Ming Yuan and learning from traditional Chinese paintings, he returned to Changzhou and soon started to use photography as a way of art representation since 1996.
Works.
Hong's renowned works include "Autumn in the Forbidden City" (1997), "Chinese Landscape" (1998), "After Liang Kai's (Song Dynasty) Masterpiece Sakyamuni Coming Out of Retirement" (1998), "I Dreamt that I was Hung Upside Down to Listen to Huizong Play the Zither with Chairman Mao" (2004) and "Nothing to Hide" (2008), among others. Apart from his success in digital photos, he started to photograph black and white Shan shui landscapes as an ongoing experimental project since 2000 to rethink Chinese traditional aesthetics. In recent years, he has also explored the various boundaries and possibilities of photography by painting his own photos on silk, as well as video & installation works. His selected solo and group exhibitions include "Recontres d' Arles: Arles Phototography Festival" (Arles, France, 2003), "Alors, La Chine?, Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition" (Pompidou Centre, Paris, 2003), "Seven Worthies" (solo exhibition, Beijing, 2007), "Seasons" (solo exhibition, Beijing, New York, 2008), 2011 Chengdu Biennale, "Mi Lou" (solo exhibition, Beijing, 2012) and "Perfume This is Not" (solo exhibition, Shanghai, 2012). Now he lives and works in Changzhou and Shanghai.