Geng Xue was born in Jilin, China, in 1983. She attended the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, China, from which she graduated in 2007 with a BFA. In 2013, she attended the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design in Karlsruhe, Germany and received an MFA from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, China, in 2014, under the tutelage and direction of renowned artist Xu Bing. Through her travels across the globe and her immersion in different cultures, Geng developed a contemporary style that is indicative of her curious nature and passion for tradition. For the stop-animation film Mr Sea (2014), Geng uses ceramics to craft a tale reminiscent of the stories found in the Qing Dynasty collection Strange Tales from Make-do Studio, merging narrative story with her exploration of the medium’s visual language. Geng kept developing her craftsmanship and mastery towards sculpting and delivered her solo exhibition Mount Sumeru at Klein Sun Gallery in 2017 covering works in both porcelain and bronze. This show references the sacred mountain Mount Sumeru, considered as the center of the physical and spiritual universe in Buddhist cosmology. Raising essential philosophical questions such as ‘who we are’ and ‘where we are’, Mount Sumeru discusses the problems of perception as the channel between the subjective world and objective world. Geng views art as an ingenious method of communication and Mount Sumeru is her contemporary manifestation of her persistence and attitude towards her own style of sculptures.
Geng’s solo exhibitions include Mount Sumeru, Klein Sun Gallery, New York, NY (2017); Poetics of the Body – The Sculpture & Video Art of Geng Xue, Fengmian Art Space, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, China (2016); Borrowing an Easterly Wind, Klein Sun Gallery, New York, NY (2015); Mr Sea, ZERO Art Center, Beijing, China (2014); and The Other Side, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, UK (2009). Her recent group exhibitions include In Motion: Ceramic Reflections in Contemporary Art,Keramiekmuseum Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands (2017); Conservation in Action: Demons and Demon Quellers, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA (2017); Amassing Force - 2017 Wang Shikuo Award: Today Art Museum Exhibition of Nominated Contemporary Artists, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China (2017); Memory and Contemporaneity.China Art Today, Collateral Event of the 57th Venice Biennale, Giardini Arsenale, Italy (2017); Reciprocal Enlightenment, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing (2017); China, Art of Movement, Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Musée-Château d’Annecy, Annecy, France (2017); Holland Animation Film Festival, Utrecht, Netherlands (2017); Memory and Contemporaneity. China Art Today, Collateral Event of the 57th Venice Biennale, Giardini Arsenale, Italy (2017); Fire Within: A New Generation of Chinese Women, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (2016); Animaux Biennale, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, China (2016); 4th Jakarta Contemporary Ceramics Biennale, National Gallery of Indonesia, Indonesia (2016); International Youth Animation Biennale, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou (2016); Here Out There, Helsinki Festival, Finland (2015); Tradition and Innovation: The Human Figure in Contemporary Chinese Art, Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (2015); China 8 - Contemporary Art from China on the Rhine and Ruhr, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany (2015); Tradition and Innovation: The Human Figure in Contemporary Chinese Art, Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI (2015); Busan Biennale, South Korea (2014); Landscape of Mind, Artmia Foundation, Beijing, China (2014); Caissa Rising Arting, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China (2014); The Start of a Long Journey, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China (2014); A Call-Girls-Attack, Kalrsruhe University of Arts and Design, Germany (2013); CAFAM Future, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China (2013); Gathered World, Ceramics Gallery, Aberystwyth Art Centre, Wales, UK (2010); Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, CA (2008), and The Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Miro Museum, Barcelona, Spain (2008).
Geng was shortlisted for the Young Artist of the Year recognition by China's most prestigious contemporary art prize, the 11th Award of Art China (AAC) in 2017. Her accolades also include the 2016 Prize Yishu 8 China; silver prize at the 1895 China Contemporary Ceramic Exhibition in Nantong, China; the ‘YiLian’ scholarship at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2014; and first prize at the ‘Graduate Show of Central Academy of Fine Arts 2007’ in Beijing, China, for her ceramic work ‘Banquet of HanXizai.'
Geng Xue currently lives and teaches sculpture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, China.