Shen Yuan

© Photo credit：Tony Metaxas

© Photo credit：Tony Metaxas

Shen Yuan's installation is based on the theory of German scientist Alfred Wegener, who claimed that originally the five continents were joined like a global village and surrounded by water, exactly as the egg yolk in the egg white. The Earth sphere is conceived, by the artist, as an egg without its shell. Considering that the egg is the primary form of life, it can be the basic form of the earth in its global and symbolic acceptance and in the specific context of the World Expo signifies the generous idea of a united planet under the main environmental preoccupations.

Shen Yuan

Born in 1959 in Xianyou, Fujian Province, China.
Lives and works in Paris, France, since 1990.

Shen Yuan tries to show language that lives in the material and transforms familiar daily objects into dramatic large-scale installations. Jérôme Sans, director of UCCA, once commented, "on the one hand, she successfully maintains the most intriguing Chinese elements; on the other hand, she has transformed these elements due to the influence of the migrant experience". Shen Yuan has held solo and group exhibitions since the early 1990s in France, Germany, England, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan and China. She has participated in many major international exhibitions including Cities on The Move, curated by Hou Hanru and Hans Ulrich Obrist in 1997 and Guangzhou Art Triennial, Guangzhou, China, 2005. Shen Yuan represented China at the Venice Biennial 2007.

Recent solo shows:
2009: Shen yuan: Hurried words, UCCA Middle Hall, Beijing , China. 2008: Le Degré Zéro de l’Espace, Galerie Kamel Mennour, Paris, France. 2007: Shen Yuan Solo Exhibition, Centre A, Vancouver, Canada. 2005: Galerie Beaumontpublic, Luxembourg.