Chen Ke (artist)

Chen Ke (, born 1978 in Tongjiang, Sichuan, China) is a Chinese artist. She currently lives and works in Beijing. Having participated in numerous international and domestic exhibitions, Chen Ke has worked in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture and fashion design. Chen Ke is recognized as the most representative artist of the New Generation of Cartoon of China.
Background.
Chen Ke was born in Tongjiang, Sichuan Province of China. When Chen Ke needed to select her major in the university, she read a book about Vincent Van Gogh. She was deeply touched by the story of Van Gogh and decided to major in oil painting. It was at this moment that she came up with the thought of becoming an artist. Following her graduation from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 2002, she succeeded in getting her master's degree in oil painting in the same institute in 2005. Later, she came to Beijing with her husband to seek her dream of becoming an artist.
Chen Ke thought all of her paintings were part of her memories at that moment. The paintings in the exhibition in 2007 were special to her because they represented her whole childhood, and her parents helped her to find the old things which appeared in her childhood. She left home when she finished her junior high school, so the home in her childhood seems to be far away from her, and every time what she dreamed was her childhood home. Therefore, she wanted to copy her childhood home in Beijing. In her first two years in Beijing, she felt lonely and what she could do was to paint and put her moods into the painting. She believed this is the reason why many people think that the girl in her painting was actually Chen Ke. And the girl in her painting grew up with the growth of Chen Ke. She thought she was lucky that she could cooperate with the Gallery after graduation. She joined many events with different zones of people because she wanted art to be linked with different people. She believed her art appeared from her daily life, so she hoped art could enter the daily lives of people. She thought fashion and art have no differences at the top point.
Artworks.
Chen Ke first showed her works in the "'Self-image: Women in the Arts in China (1920–2010)"' in 2001. And since then, she has been active in publishing her works in various magazines and books. In 2008, Chen Ke devoted to the 'Beyond dimension - China New Painting', which played an important role for her. Up to now, she is still making contributions to the art world and publishing more eye-catching art.
As classical artworks of Chen Ke, almost every piece of work shows a little girl with a round nose, who is lost in depression, limited to herself, living in an unreal space, and seems to keep a distance from the human world. Usually, the sad girl takes up the center of the whole artwork. With the full expression of the blank as well as the grain like porcelain painting, Chen Ke fully shows the opposition of the reality, which buries the audience in the waves of the sense of unknown sadness.
For Chen Ke, the trials on the painting media never stop its moving steps. Among the works completed in 2008, Chen Ke came up with some new ideas and made the painting just like manual, complementarity of calico with the painting mediator as well as the traditional oil painting materials are expressed to a large degree, making the sad girl changeable and seems to be jumping between the virtual world and the reality, which makes the audience lost in the endless loneliness and long distraction.
Like many young artists, Chen Ke takes her interest in various aspects - music, traveling, and reading are her favorites. In addition, she is also addicted to the analyses of the constellations, which also make a contribution to the sense of mystery in her works. Chen Ke uses painting to fill her life and express herself in her paintings. It is stated that she would be buried in a sense of constellation nothingness if she stops painting for a whole day. Chen likes challenges and is always seeking the power for achievements to satisfy her needs to be superior to herself and to seek a sense of herself. For Chen Ke, this achievement becomes more real and exciting than just remaining still and waiting for death.
Just like the show in 2007 in Star Gallery, with that old-style furniture appealing to the deep memory of Chen Ke when in her childhood, Chen Ke starts to do her re-creation; with flow of the trace of colors and the casual position of the girls, she expressed her sense of belongingness and her deep feeling about herself.
Works.
Publication.
In 2007, Chen Ke published a book of autobiography and paintings entitled "", 'Being with you and I will never feel lonely'. In this book, she told her story from being a little girl in a small city of Sichuan to becoming the most representative contemporary Chinese artist. And she also shared the memories that belong to the people of the 1970s. And her paintings have been included in both international and domestic books on art, including "China - Facing Reality" (2007), "Avatars and Antiheroes: A Guide to Contemporary Chinese Artists" (2008), and "19 Samples of Chinese Contemporary Female Artists" (2008).
Fashion.
Chen Ke has cooperated with many fashion brands. In 2008, Fendi invited Chen Ke to join the Fendi special handbags Baguette Anniversary commemorative edition series; she designed a handbag for the series. In 2014, Chen Ke designed for the Vogue FNO series to celebrate the ninth anniversary of "Vogue" magazine.
Technology.
In 2015, Chen Ke designed 5 phone cases for the Jianguo phone of the Smartisan Technology Co., Ltd.
Exhibitions.
Chen Ke had her sole show in Star Gallery, Kunsthaus Viernheim and Marella Gallery. Her artworks also have been exhibited in many other galleries in London, Berlin, Vienna, Bangkok, Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing etc.
Solo exhibitions.
2007: 
2008: 
2009: 
2010: 
2012: 
Group Exhibitions.
2001:
2002:
2003:
2004:
2005:
2006:
2007:
2008:
2009:
2010:
2011:
2012:
2013:
2014:
2015:
2016:
Recognition.
Chen Ke has received a lot of awards, including the 3rd Chinese New Painting Award (中国新锐绘画奖) and Nomination for " Young Artist of the Year 2008" by Award of Art China (艺术中国·年度青年艺术家).
Publication.
Ke, Chen", 'With you and I will never feel lonely' <和你在一起，永远不孤单>," Beijing: China Youth Publishing House, 2012. 