CAO Zaifei 曹再飞

CAO Zaifei (born in 1974, also known as CAO Yuanming) graduated from the Department of Oil Painting at Nanjing Academy of Art and the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Nanjing University, also as a visiting scholar at Purdue University in the United States. Currently living and working in Shanghai, he teaches at the Shanghai University School of Fine Arts. CAO Zaifei’s works span painting, sculpture, installation, video, and performance art, with a focus on exploring the words and meanings behind the visual representation of images. CAO's paintings often feature themes such as figures, animals, still life, and spatial scenes, creating an atmosphere that is both monotonous and repetitive, yet grounded and somber. His works frequently incorporate narrative or dramatic elements, obscuring the truth behind the curtains. The artist does not adhere to traditional oil painting forms, intentionally avoiding frontal depictions of figures, instead using back views or invisible hands and feet to manipulate our present and future. However, upon closer examination, the “empty” reality he constructs lacks clear logical connections, presenting instead absurdities, suspense, and a sense of the inexplicable that is difficult to articulate, creating a dissonance in his work—seemingly real, yet entirely fictional. Notably, this absurdity is often accompanied by a strong sense of reality. Figures float in the composition, with neither a beginning nor an end, seemingly searching for something in confusion, playing out the continually alienated dreams of life.

His recent solo exhibitions include “Messenger of the absurd-CAO Zaifei's works exhibition” (YI Art Institute, Hefei, China, 2024-2025), "To Be a Piece of Meat or a Meat Cleaver? " (Center for Visual Arts Berlin, Berlin, 2024), "Cold Pop Art" (Ui Art Center, Suzhou, China, 2023), "The Room of Sisyphus" (Don Gallery, Shanghai, 2023), “Everyday Jest” (Don Gallery, Shanghai, 2021), “Gravity” (Yidian Space, Beijing, 2016), “No longer Stranger: Works by CAO Yuanming” (Purdue University Art Museum, USA, 2010), “Stranger on the Earth - Works by CAO Yuanming” (Aroundspace Gallery, Shanghai, 2008), “Chapel” (George Michell Gallery, Shanghai, 2007), etc. His works have been widely exhibited in different institutions, including White Rabbit Collection (Australia, 2023), Calvin University Art Museum (USA, 2020), CCC Art Museum (Beijing, 2019), Purdue University (USA, 2019), Duolun Museum of Modern Art (Shanghai, 2019), China Art Palace (Shanghai, 2017), Jiangsu Museum of Modern Art (Jiangsu, 2017), Guangdong Museum of Art (Guangzhou, 2016), Seoul Metropolitan Library (Korea, 2016), etc.