CAI Dong-Dong
蔡東東
Born in Tianshui, Gansu, in 1978, Cai Dongdong joined the People’s Liberation Army at a young age, taking up a role as a portrait photographer for enlisted soldiers. This job became his formal training in the medium, developing into a career path as he returned to Beijing and opened his own studio. Through the use of archival, found photography, and installation, Cai creates half-fragmented realities. Taking readymade materials – a nod to Duchamp's Dadaist sensibilities – he pierces through the skin of these photographs with mirrors, arrows, and other objects, forming what he calls 'photo-sculptures.'
His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions worldwide, including Photography Autocracy, Klein Sun Gallery, New York, NY (2017); Fountain 泉, Klein Sun Gallery, New York, NY (2016); Off Target: Cai Dongdong, Charles Chu Reading Room, Connecticut College (2016); Image Uterus Production Power, Gallery 55, Shanghai, China (2013); Draftsmanship, Mattias Kuper Galleries, Stuttgart, Germany (2012); Tea Garden, UNIDEE Art Foundation, Biella, Italy (2011); and 51m2: 6# Cai Weidong, Taikang Space, Beijing, China (2010).
Chronology
2002 - B.A., Beijing Film Academy, Beijing
Publications
2022 - Left, Right. La Maison de Z, Paris
2021 - History of Life, Imageless, Shanghai
2015 - Fountain. Jiazazhi, Ningbo, China
2021 - History of Life, Imageless, Shanghai
2015 - Fountain. Jiazazhi, Ningbo, China
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 - Cai Dongdong: Obstacles, Villa Heike, Berlin
2023 - Cai Dongdong: Miss the Target, Light Society, Beijing, China
2019 - Cai Dongdong: Photography Reforged, Leo Gallery, Shanghai
2017 - Cai Dongdong: Photography Autocracy, Klein Sun Gallery, New York
2016 - Cai Dongdong: Fountain, Klein Sun Gallery, New York
2016 - Cai Dongdong: Let It Be, Gallery 100, Taipei
2016 - Off Target: Photographs by Cai Dongdong, Charles Chu Reading Room, Charles Shain 2016 - Library, Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut
2015 - Cai Dongdong: Rebirth, Three Shadows +3 Gallery, Beijing
2015 - Cai Dongdong: Following Stone, Tong Gallery+Projects, Beijing
2015 - Cai Dongdong: Trans-Section of Memory, Jiali Gallery, Beijing
2014 - Cai Dongdong: Oh My God, Action Space, Beijing
2013 - Cai Dongdong: Image Uterus Production Power, Gallery 55, Shanghai
2013 - Cai Dongdong: Appreciating Audiences, Gallery 55, Shanghai
2012 - Cai Dongdong: Draftsmanship, Mattias Kuper Galleries, Beijing and Stuttgart, Germany
2012 - Cai Dongdong: Pulling to The Left, Taikang Space, Beijing
2011 - Cai Dongdong: Tea Garden, UNIDEE Art Foundation, Biella, Italy
2010 - Cai Dongdong: 51m2: 6# Cai Weidong, Taikang Space, Beijing
2023 - Cai Dongdong: Miss the Target, Light Society, Beijing, China
2019 - Cai Dongdong: Photography Reforged, Leo Gallery, Shanghai
2017 - Cai Dongdong: Photography Autocracy, Klein Sun Gallery, New York
2016 - Cai Dongdong: Fountain, Klein Sun Gallery, New York
2016 - Cai Dongdong: Let It Be, Gallery 100, Taipei
2016 - Off Target: Photographs by Cai Dongdong, Charles Chu Reading Room, Charles Shain 2016 - Library, Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut
2015 - Cai Dongdong: Rebirth, Three Shadows +3 Gallery, Beijing
2015 - Cai Dongdong: Following Stone, Tong Gallery+Projects, Beijing
2015 - Cai Dongdong: Trans-Section of Memory, Jiali Gallery, Beijing
2014 - Cai Dongdong: Oh My God, Action Space, Beijing
2013 - Cai Dongdong: Image Uterus Production Power, Gallery 55, Shanghai
2013 - Cai Dongdong: Appreciating Audiences, Gallery 55, Shanghai
2012 - Cai Dongdong: Draftsmanship, Mattias Kuper Galleries, Beijing and Stuttgart, Germany
2012 - Cai Dongdong: Pulling to The Left, Taikang Space, Beijing
2011 - Cai Dongdong: Tea Garden, UNIDEE Art Foundation, Biella, Italy
2010 - Cai Dongdong: 51m2: 6# Cai Weidong, Taikang Space, Beijing
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
Practice of Vision, Epoch Art Museum, Wenzhou, China
Ritualdynamik, Cospace, Shanghai
15 Years Stieglitz 19, Stieglitz 19, Brussels, Belgium
More Than Meets The Eye, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Xiamen, China
2022
Renew - A Recent Survey in Chinese Contemporary Photography, Eli Klein Gallery, New York
Unnamed River, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
For A Bigger Picture, APSMUSEUM, Shanghai
More Than Meets the Eye: 10 Years of Three Shadows + 3 Gallery, Three Shadows + 3 Gallery, Beijing
Eye to Eye with Stano, Czech China Contemporary, Beijing
40 Years of Chinese Photography, Kulangsu Center for Contemporary Art, Xiamen, China
Chinese Spring Part 5, Stieglitz 19, Antwerp, Belgium
2020
Public·Park, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai
Stratification and Synthesis: Two Actions and Practices in Chinese Contemporary Photography, Xie Zilong Photography Museum, Changsha, China
Whitebox Choice Selection, Whitebox Art Center, Beijing
A Tree, Stieglitz 19, Antwerp, Belgium
2019
Emerging Dimensions: Works by Li Hongbo and Cai Dongdong, Pauly Friedman Art Gallery at Misericordia University, Dallas, Pennsylvania
180 Years of Photography in China, Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, Yinchuan, China
Chinese Landscape Rethought, Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, Connecticut
Pal(ate)/ette, Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai
Chinese Spring #4, Markgravelei 95 POP UP, Antwerp, Belgium
Landscapes in Motion, GALERÍA RGR, Mexico City, Mexico
2018
Go Live, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, China
40 Years of Chinese Contemporary Photography, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
Ten Directions: The 10th Anniversary Exhibition of The Three Shadows Photography, The Three Shadows Gallery, Beijing [itinerary: The Three Shadows Gallery, Xiamen, China]
New Expression of Beijing, N3 Contemporary Art, Beijing
New Historical Drama, Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing
Negative, Positive, Wanying Art Museum, Shijiazhuang, China
After Sunset, Galerie Liusa Wang, Paris
2017
Working on History - Contemporary Chinese Photography and the Cultural Revolution, Staatliche Museen Zu Berlin, Berlin
Évidences du réel: La photographie face à ses facunes, Musée d'art de Pully, Pully, Switzerland
Bizarreland - Exhibition of Chinese and Contemporary Photography, Nantong City Center Art Museum, Nantong, China
Strolling Along the Discernible Minjiang, Blue Roof Art Zone, Chengdu, China
40 Years of Chinese Contemporary Photography (1976-2017), Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing
One Hundred Languages, Future Forest Children Lab, T80 Technology Culture International Community, Nanjing, China
Photosynthesis, M97 Gallery, Shanghai
Simultaneous Eidos: Guangzhou Image Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2016
Silk Road International, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, China
The Lost Diary of Beijing, Star Gallery, Beijing
It’s Exactly as if It Had Never Happened, 1 House (Art + Fashion), 798 District, Beijing
The Exhibition of Annual Contemporary Art in China, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing
Guns and Roses: Chinese Contemporary Art, Kunstraum Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
Scripts of the Bodies, Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Xiamen, China
Sayizheng III, Tuanjiehu Park, Beijing
This is Why We Play, Zaisan Gallery, Beijing
Turning Point: Contemporary Art in China Since 2000, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai
Ghost in Flash: After Photography, Taikang Space, Beijing
New Capital - Huang Yu Collection Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art Chengdu, Chengdu, China
TAKE ME OUT, Chi K11 Art Foundation, Shanghai
Daegu Photo Biennale 2016, Daegu, South Korea
2015
Unfamiliar Asia: The Second Beijing Photo Biennial, Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing
China 8 - Contemporary Art from China on the Rhine and Ruhr, Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany
Consciousness and Reconstruction - From Yan’an Woodcut to the Practice of Nameless, Xi’an Museum, Xi’an, China
Links - Locality and Nomadism, Galaxy Museum of Contemporary Art, Chongqing, China
Beyond the Earth - The First Xi’an Contemporary Photography Exhibition, Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China
Editing the Spectacle: The Individual and Working Methods Post Mediatization, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing
Chinese Photography: Twentieth Century and Beyond, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
Economic Foundation, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art Store, Beijing
Three Shadows Photo Award Exhibition, Echigo-Tsumari Art Field, Tokamachi, Japan
Re-exposure, Poly Art Space, Hong Kong
Perception of Reality, Pa Ta Gallery, Beijing
2nd Three Shadows Experimental Image Open Exhibition, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
Fat Choi, A307, Beijing
Fundamental Labor, Koala Space, Tianjin, China
Winter Discovery 2015, Thousand Plateaus Art Space, Chengdu, China
Echigo-Tsumari Triennial, Niigata, Japan
2014
Pull Left: Not Always Right, Urban Arts Space, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio [itinerary: Hillstrom Museum of Art, St. Peter, Minnesota; The Trout Gallery, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; The Art Museum of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania]
The Images of Mundane Life - Second Yuandian Contemporary Photography Festival, Yuan Dian Gallery, Beijing
Unlived by What is Seen, Galleria Continua, Pace Beijing, and Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing
The Soft of Painting, Jing Gallery, Beijing
Unfathomable, Today Art Museum, Beijing
The Future is the Past - Transitional Chinese Portrait, Les Amis de Nouvelles D’Europe, Vienna
Civilization Round 2: Yu Lin, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal Xi’an, Xi’an, China
HACC, Rose Lehrman Art Gallery, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Uneasy Trip in Asia 2014, Star Gallery, Beijing
From New Photography to Rookie Award - Three Shadows’ Collection, He Xiang Ning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Arts on the Papers, Space Station, Beijing
Imaginary Happiness, Bottega Veneta and Yifeng Gallery, Shanghai
The Home Project No. 1, Space Regeneration, Tianjin, China
Get it Louder, SOHO Sanlitun, Beijing
2013
Civilization Round 1: Lin Lv, White Box Art Center, Beijing
The Second Beijing Photo Biennial, Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing
Here and Now, From Boredom to Endless Delays, Li Space, Beijing
Unboundedness, China Cultural Center, Berlin
Sayizheng II, Rundeli Market, Beijing
2012
(+150) Visione: Origine a Potere: Energia Attraverso Le Generazioni, Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow
Carnival - Hei Qiao Artist Community, Mizuma & One Gallery, Beijing
Conceptual Renewal, Si Shang Art Museum, Beijing
Culture · Desert - Kubuqi Contemporary Art Exhibition, Kubuqi Art Museum, Kubuqi, China
A Kite, C Space, Beijing
2011
Image - History - Existence: Taikang Life 15th Anniversary Art Collection Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing
51m2: 16 Emerging Chinese Artists, Taikang Space, Beijing
The Third Party - Act 3, Platform China, Beijing
Friday in FRAC, FRAC Gallery, Turin
Cai Dongdong x Ge Lei x Su Wenxiang x Zhao Yao, Aether Art Space, Beijing
Longquan Spa, Beijing
Duet - Chongqing International Invitation Exhibition of Contemporary Photography, Yuao International Arts Center, Chongqing, China
2010
The Market: I’m, Beijing Center for the Arts, Beijing
Portraits, EGG Gallery, Beijing
2009
Lead Up, Museum of Contemporary Art, Beijing
YOUTH, China Square, New York
Nothing, Genssun International Art Space, Beijing
2008
China’s Contemporary Photography in the New Century, Art Gate Gallery, New York
See Through, Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong
Fabricating lmages from History, Chinablue Gallery, Beijing
Outward lmages, Three Shadows Photography Center, Beijing
Nothing to Hide, EGG Gallery, Beijing
2007
Attitude, Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai
2006
China and Taiwan Contemporary Photography, Donggang Museum of Photography, Yeongwol-gun, South Korea
2005
Re-viewing: Guangzhou International Photo Biennale, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Conspire, TS1 Gallery, Beijing
Practice of Vision, Epoch Art Museum, Wenzhou, China
Ritualdynamik, Cospace, Shanghai
15 Years Stieglitz 19, Stieglitz 19, Brussels, Belgium
More Than Meets The Eye, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Xiamen, China
2022
Renew - A Recent Survey in Chinese Contemporary Photography, Eli Klein Gallery, New York
Unnamed River, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
For A Bigger Picture, APSMUSEUM, Shanghai
More Than Meets the Eye: 10 Years of Three Shadows + 3 Gallery, Three Shadows + 3 Gallery, Beijing
Eye to Eye with Stano, Czech China Contemporary, Beijing
40 Years of Chinese Photography, Kulangsu Center for Contemporary Art, Xiamen, China
Chinese Spring Part 5, Stieglitz 19, Antwerp, Belgium
2020
Public·Park, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai
Stratification and Synthesis: Two Actions and Practices in Chinese Contemporary Photography, Xie Zilong Photography Museum, Changsha, China
Whitebox Choice Selection, Whitebox Art Center, Beijing
A Tree, Stieglitz 19, Antwerp, Belgium
2019
Emerging Dimensions: Works by Li Hongbo and Cai Dongdong, Pauly Friedman Art Gallery at Misericordia University, Dallas, Pennsylvania
180 Years of Photography in China, Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, Yinchuan, China
Chinese Landscape Rethought, Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, Connecticut
Pal(ate)/ette, Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai
Chinese Spring #4, Markgravelei 95 POP UP, Antwerp, Belgium
Landscapes in Motion, GALERÍA RGR, Mexico City, Mexico
2018
Go Live, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, China
40 Years of Chinese Contemporary Photography, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
Ten Directions: The 10th Anniversary Exhibition of The Three Shadows Photography, The Three Shadows Gallery, Beijing [itinerary: The Three Shadows Gallery, Xiamen, China]
New Expression of Beijing, N3 Contemporary Art, Beijing
New Historical Drama, Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing
Negative, Positive, Wanying Art Museum, Shijiazhuang, China
After Sunset, Galerie Liusa Wang, Paris
2017
Working on History - Contemporary Chinese Photography and the Cultural Revolution, Staatliche Museen Zu Berlin, Berlin
Évidences du réel: La photographie face à ses facunes, Musée d'art de Pully, Pully, Switzerland
Bizarreland - Exhibition of Chinese and Contemporary Photography, Nantong City Center Art Museum, Nantong, China
Strolling Along the Discernible Minjiang, Blue Roof Art Zone, Chengdu, China
40 Years of Chinese Contemporary Photography (1976-2017), Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing
One Hundred Languages, Future Forest Children Lab, T80 Technology Culture International Community, Nanjing, China
Photosynthesis, M97 Gallery, Shanghai
Simultaneous Eidos: Guangzhou Image Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2016
Silk Road International, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, China
The Lost Diary of Beijing, Star Gallery, Beijing
It’s Exactly as if It Had Never Happened, 1 House (Art + Fashion), 798 District, Beijing
The Exhibition of Annual Contemporary Art in China, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing
Guns and Roses: Chinese Contemporary Art, Kunstraum Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
Scripts of the Bodies, Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Xiamen, China
Sayizheng III, Tuanjiehu Park, Beijing
This is Why We Play, Zaisan Gallery, Beijing
Turning Point: Contemporary Art in China Since 2000, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai
Ghost in Flash: After Photography, Taikang Space, Beijing
New Capital - Huang Yu Collection Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art Chengdu, Chengdu, China
TAKE ME OUT, Chi K11 Art Foundation, Shanghai
Daegu Photo Biennale 2016, Daegu, South Korea
2015
Unfamiliar Asia: The Second Beijing Photo Biennial, Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing
China 8 - Contemporary Art from China on the Rhine and Ruhr, Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany
Consciousness and Reconstruction - From Yan’an Woodcut to the Practice of Nameless, Xi’an Museum, Xi’an, China
Links - Locality and Nomadism, Galaxy Museum of Contemporary Art, Chongqing, China
Beyond the Earth - The First Xi’an Contemporary Photography Exhibition, Xi’an Art Museum, Xi’an, China
Editing the Spectacle: The Individual and Working Methods Post Mediatization, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing
Chinese Photography: Twentieth Century and Beyond, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
Economic Foundation, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art Store, Beijing
Three Shadows Photo Award Exhibition, Echigo-Tsumari Art Field, Tokamachi, Japan
Re-exposure, Poly Art Space, Hong Kong
Perception of Reality, Pa Ta Gallery, Beijing
2nd Three Shadows Experimental Image Open Exhibition, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
Fat Choi, A307, Beijing
Fundamental Labor, Koala Space, Tianjin, China
Winter Discovery 2015, Thousand Plateaus Art Space, Chengdu, China
Echigo-Tsumari Triennial, Niigata, Japan
2014
Pull Left: Not Always Right, Urban Arts Space, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio [itinerary: Hillstrom Museum of Art, St. Peter, Minnesota; The Trout Gallery, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; The Art Museum of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania]
The Images of Mundane Life - Second Yuandian Contemporary Photography Festival, Yuan Dian Gallery, Beijing
Unlived by What is Seen, Galleria Continua, Pace Beijing, and Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing
The Soft of Painting, Jing Gallery, Beijing
Unfathomable, Today Art Museum, Beijing
The Future is the Past - Transitional Chinese Portrait, Les Amis de Nouvelles D’Europe, Vienna
Civilization Round 2: Yu Lin, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal Xi’an, Xi’an, China
HACC, Rose Lehrman Art Gallery, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Uneasy Trip in Asia 2014, Star Gallery, Beijing
From New Photography to Rookie Award - Three Shadows’ Collection, He Xiang Ning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Arts on the Papers, Space Station, Beijing
Imaginary Happiness, Bottega Veneta and Yifeng Gallery, Shanghai
The Home Project No. 1, Space Regeneration, Tianjin, China
Get it Louder, SOHO Sanlitun, Beijing
2013
Civilization Round 1: Lin Lv, White Box Art Center, Beijing
The Second Beijing Photo Biennial, Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing
Here and Now, From Boredom to Endless Delays, Li Space, Beijing
Unboundedness, China Cultural Center, Berlin
Sayizheng II, Rundeli Market, Beijing
2012
(+150) Visione: Origine a Potere: Energia Attraverso Le Generazioni, Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow
Carnival - Hei Qiao Artist Community, Mizuma & One Gallery, Beijing
Conceptual Renewal, Si Shang Art Museum, Beijing
Culture · Desert - Kubuqi Contemporary Art Exhibition, Kubuqi Art Museum, Kubuqi, China
A Kite, C Space, Beijing
2011
Image - History - Existence: Taikang Life 15th Anniversary Art Collection Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing
51m2: 16 Emerging Chinese Artists, Taikang Space, Beijing
The Third Party - Act 3, Platform China, Beijing
Friday in FRAC, FRAC Gallery, Turin
Cai Dongdong x Ge Lei x Su Wenxiang x Zhao Yao, Aether Art Space, Beijing
Longquan Spa, Beijing
Duet - Chongqing International Invitation Exhibition of Contemporary Photography, Yuao International Arts Center, Chongqing, China
2010
The Market: I’m, Beijing Center for the Arts, Beijing
Portraits, EGG Gallery, Beijing
2009
Lead Up, Museum of Contemporary Art, Beijing
YOUTH, China Square, New York
Nothing, Genssun International Art Space, Beijing
2008
China’s Contemporary Photography in the New Century, Art Gate Gallery, New York
See Through, Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong
Fabricating lmages from History, Chinablue Gallery, Beijing
Outward lmages, Three Shadows Photography Center, Beijing
Nothing to Hide, EGG Gallery, Beijing
2007
Attitude, Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai
2006
China and Taiwan Contemporary Photography, Donggang Museum of Photography, Yeongwol-gun, South Korea
2005
Re-viewing: Guangzhou International Photo Biennale, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Conspire, TS1 Gallery, Beijing
Awards
2015 - TOP 20 Young Photographers, Chinese Contemporary Emerging Photographer 2015
2015 - Third Ranking List of Chinese Photography
2014 - ART 289 Magazine New Force 2014
2010 - 1st Prize in Third Terna Contemporary Art Award
2005 - Outstanding Photographer Creation Fund Award, Pingyao International Photography Festival
2015 - Third Ranking List of Chinese Photography
2014 - ART 289 Magazine New Force 2014
2010 - 1st Prize in Third Terna Contemporary Art Award
2005 - Outstanding Photographer Creation Fund Award, Pingyao International Photography Festival
Collections
Blue Mountain Contemporary Art, Israel
Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow
Mönchehaus Museum, Goslar, Germany
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Museum of Photography, Berlin
UNIDEE Art Foundation, Biella, Italy
White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney
China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing
Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
Taikang Space, Beijing
Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing
Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow
Mönchehaus Museum, Goslar, Germany
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Museum of Photography, Berlin
UNIDEE Art Foundation, Biella, Italy
White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney
China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing
Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
Taikang Space, Beijing
Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing
