“Shen Yuan: JETLAG,” contemporary artist Shen Yuan’s first solo exhibition in South China, will open at the Sea World Culture and Arts Center this March.  

Featuring 15 installations and sculptures, including three newly commissioned works, the exhibition offers a comprehensive retrospective of the artistic career of one of the most important Chinese female contemporary artists. 

Shen Yuan and her husband Huang Yong Ping.

Shen graduated from Zhejiang Academy of Art (now China Academy of Art) in 1982 with a background in Chinese painting, and later shifted her focus from traditional Chinese painting to installation and sculpture. She was among the few female artists whose works were exhibited at the China/Avant-Garde Exhibition in 1989. 

In 1990, she moved to Paris with her husband, artist Huang Yong Ping. The seven-hour time difference between China and Paris has since prompted her sustained reflections on themes such as culture, identity, and spatial differences. In her view, “jetlag” reflects not only the state of having to leave a place just after adapting to it, which has become her norm over the past decades, but also a fluctuating sense of belonging. 

While many artists of her generation tended to focus on grand narratives, Shen showed an early interest in intimate experiences and marginalized issues, articulating a unique female perspective within avant-garde art. At the same time, her creations extended beyond personal expressions, often weaving together family memory and collective experience. 

"Uncomfortable Shoes" (2008)

She excels at creating installations using everyday objects and has a preference for ephemeral and unconventional materials. Crochet, embroidery, hair, and shoes are frequently-used elements in her works.  

Her works are included in the collections of major galleries and museums worldwide and have been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum, the National Art Museum of China, the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, and the Venice Biennale. 

"Hurried Words" (2008)

The exhibition’s title, “JETLAG,” encapsulates recurring themes in Shen’s works — migration, identity and alienation, and intimate personal memories — as well as her trajectory as a female artist. Through this personal “journal,” viewers can discover how these reflections are transformed into art in a uniquely Shen Yuan manner. 

Among the exhibits are three new works specially created for the exhibition. 

"Urban Village" (2025)

“Mold/Space,” a wooden mold bearing artistic traces of the Huang brothers, explores the theme of family memory; “Playing with Fire,” a giant comb with hair caught in its match-like teeth and lice crawling off from it, alludes to the shifting international geopolitical landscape; while “Urban Village” centers on Shenzhen’s unique urban development as a city of migrants in which each newcomer carries their own “jetlag.”

Dates: March 23-July 21

Early-bird tickets: 48 yuan per person, 78 yuan for two persons (SWCAC members enjoy free admission)

Venue: L1, Sea World Culture and Arts Center, Nanshan District (南山区海上世界文化艺术中心L1滨海展馆)

Metro: Line 2 or 12 to Sea World Station (海上世界站), Exit A