Biography

ZHANG Ruyi (b.1985) currently lives and works in Shanghai. Her practice and work unfold around the logic of every day and occupy a unique space which reconciles artefacts, industrial experience, and urban life. The artist draws inspiration from commonplace materials, exploring and mediating the hierarchy and interplay between the individual, the material, and the place as a key narrative pathway. Her work mainly involves site-specific installation, sculpture, and integrated media, using "reality" as a model to draw out the shaping of individual emotions as the city shifts around its inhabitants, and planting intuition and observation in simple materials through the visual language of paradoxical transformation, to bestow a spiritual significance which extends beyond the material.

 

Recent institutional exhibitions include the 12th SITE SANTA FE International “Once Within A Time”(Santa Fe, US, 2025), the 14th Taipei Biennial “Whispers on the Horizon”(Taipei, 2025), Rockbund Art Museum (Shanghai, 2024), Times Museum (Guangzhou,2024), Yuz Museum (Shanghai, 2023), the 16th Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art - “Manifesto of Fragility” (Lyon, 2022), He Art Museum (Foshan, Guang Dong, 2022), Tai Kwun Contemporary (Hong Kong, 2022), Power Station of Art (Shanghai, 2021), TANK Shanghai Art Centre (Shanghai, 2021), UCCA Dune (Beijing, 2020), the K11 Art Foundation (Hong Kong, 2019) and other institutions. Her featured solo exhibitions include “Once Remain, Once Remould” (Don Gallery, Shanghai, 2023), "ZHANG Ruyi: Speaking Softly" (UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, 2022), "Modern Fossil" (START Museum, Shanghai, 2022), "Consciousness of Location " (Don Gallery, Shanghai, 2019), "Bonsai" (François Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles, 2019), etc.

Works
  • Soap– 3 香皂─ 3
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Soap– 3 香皂─ 3, 2017
    Concrete, soap holder, tiles 混凝土、香皂架、瓷砖
    9 x 5.5 x 2 cm (soap 香皂), 12.7 x 8.4 x 3.5 cm (soap holder 香皂架), 60 x 30 cm (tiles 瓷砖)
  • Planter-7 种植-7
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Planter-7 种植-7, 2022
    Construction debris, cactus thorns, nail polish, imported glue 建筑碎石、仙人掌刺、指甲油、进口胶
    27 × 25 × 18 cm
  • Circular Ruin环形废墟
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Circular Ruin环形废墟, 2023
    Density board, plasterboard, wooden stool, construction debris, concrete, round fish tank, metal frame, tape 密度板、石膏板、木凳、碎石、混凝土、圆形鱼缸、金属铁架、胶带
    30 × 30 × 98 cm(H)
  • Decoration (Guess the Shape) 装饰物(猜测形状)
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Decoration (Guess the Shape) 装饰物(猜测形状), 2023
    Wood board, aluminum-plastic panel, UV print, silkscreen print, coloured sulphate paper, sandpaper, copper wire, nylon mesh, plastic film, teak frame, museum quality non-reflective acrylic 木板、铝塑板、UV 打印、丝网印刷、有色硫酸纸、砂纸、铜丝、尼龙网、塑料薄膜、柚木框、博物馆级无反光亚克力
    76 × 101 × 4.3 cm(framed 含框)
  • Decoration (Yellow Mist) 装饰物(黄色迷雾)
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Decoration (Yellow Mist) 装饰物(黄色迷雾), 2023
    Aluminum foil, UV print, clip frame, wood panel, color pencil, sandpaper, nylon mesh, tape 铝箔、UV打印、编辑框架、木板、彩铅、砂纸、尼龙网、胶带
    40 × 40 cm
  • Dilapidated Gently Sloping 失修的缓坡
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Dilapidated Gently Sloping 失修的缓坡, 2023
    Multi-layer panels, tiles, concrete, metal panels, mosaics, aluminium, copper wire, furniture feet pads 多层板、瓷砖、混凝土、金属板、马赛克、铝、铜丝线、脚垫
    210 × 110 × 43 cm(H)
  • Perishable Modernity - 2 易逝的现代 - 2
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Perishable Modernity - 2 易逝的现代 - 2, 2023
    Concrete, threaded rebar, hot-rolled steel sheet, construction debris, metal, remodeled stool 混凝土、螺纹钢筋、热轧板、碎石、金属、改制椅子
    Sculpture雕塑 20 × 13 × 81 cm(H), Table and construction debris 桌子及碎石 88 × 30 × 40 cm(H)
  • Connection-3 连接-3
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Connection-3 连接-3, 2016
    Concrete, plug and electric wires 混凝土,插头及电线
    7.5 x 4.2 x 2 cm
  • Copy─2 副本─2
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Copy─2 副本─2, 2018
    Concrete, pigment, rebar 混凝土,色粉,螺纹钢筋
    6 x 60 x 7 cm
  • Matte Substance-7 暗色之物-7
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Matte Substance-7 暗色之物-7
    Concrete, gravel, wood pallet, wood bar 混凝土,碎石,木托板,木条
    72 x 40 x 30 cm 40 x 30 x 72 cm(with wood pallet)72 x 40 x 30 cm 40 x 30 x 72 cm(含木托板 )
  • Behind that Thing 事物的背面
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Behind that Thing 事物的背面, 2017
    Colouredconcrete, ceramic tiles 有色混凝土,瓷砖
    10 (d)x 40 (h)cm (Sculpture), 20 x 30 x 110 cm (Plinth)10 (d)x 40 (h)cm (雕塑), 20 x 30 x 110 cm (底座)
  • Mount 镶嵌
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Mount 镶嵌, 2018
    Concrete, steel, resin and floor drain 混凝土、钢筋、树脂和地漏
    dimensions variable ,199.5 × 84.5 × 4.6 cm (door), 10 × 10 × 8 cm (floor drain)尺寸可变, 199.5 × 84.5 × 4.6 cm (门), 10 × 10 × 8 cm (地漏)
  • Reflection-2 倒影-2
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Reflection-2 倒影-2, 2018
    Concrete, pigment,ceramic tiles, and metal 混凝土,色粉,瓷砖,和金属
    36.5 x 50 x 20 cm
  • Soap- 11 香皂– 11
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Soap- 11 香皂– 11, 2017
    Concrete, soap holder 混凝土、香皂架
    9.5 × 5 × 3 cm (soap 香皂), 12.7 × 8.4 × 3.5 cm (soap holder 香皂架)
  • Submerged Landscape-1 浸泡景观–1
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Submerged Landscape-1 浸泡景观–1, 2019
    Air conditioner condenser, aquarium, concrete, Suckermouth catfish, heater, filter, light, wood pallet 鱼缸,混凝土,清道夫,加热棒,过滤器,灯,木托板
    43 x 63 x 33 cm, 80 x 90 x 55 cm(with wood pallet 含木托板)
  • Space - 4 空间─4
    ZHANG Ruyi 张如怡
    Space - 4 空间─4, 2014
    Mixed media on paper 纸上综合材料
    20 x 35 cm
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