Chen Zhe’s practice examines the entanglement of body and mind, the experience of temporality, and the manifestation of destiny through material traces. She is drawn to moments when paradoxes flare against one another—oscillating between pain and relief, day and night, the finite and the eternal.
Employing the body as her first measure, Chen Zhe explores the encounter between the human and the forces that transcend it. To her, the body is capable of reaching toward the ineffable: an instrument for sensing time, a vessel of perception, and a temple where realization sparks into being.
In her art-making, the unguarded body becomes a portal to ritual, and its vulnerability a prerequisite for illumination within. This leads her to reimagine pre-scientific notions of time—measured and remembered not through precision, but through the sensorial body. She approaches divination as a fundamental human instinct: the finite body’s persistent inquiry into a vast cosmic order, through which our imagination of fate finds form in star trails, oracle bones, and the textures of the viscera.
Two gestures anchor Chen Zhe’s process: naming in the pursuit of understanding, and rewriting in recognition that complete understanding is never possible. Spanning photography, sculpture, spatial installation, and publishing, her projects often unfold over many years, with individual works annotating one another, collectively forming an ongoing journey of discovery and remembrance.
Chen Zhe (b.1989, Beijing) received her BFA in Photography and Imaging from Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Her works has been exhibited at Lillehammer Art Museum, Norway (2022); UCCA Dune, Qinhuangdao (2021); Yokohama Triennale, Japan (2020); Plug In ICA, Canada (2020); Ming Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai (2020); Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Germany (2019); White Rabbit Gallery, Australia (2019); the 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Australia (2018); Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Japan (2018); Para Site, Hong Kong (2018); OCAT Shenzhen, Shenzhen (2018); Guangzhou Photo Triennial, Guangzhou (2017); Anren Biennale, Chengdu (2017); CAFA Art Museum, Beijing (2017); the 11th Shanghai Biennial, Shanghai (2016); Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai (2016); University of Toronto Art Centre, Canada (2014); Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2013); Fotohof, Austria (2012); Three Shadows Photography Art Centre (2011) and more.
Chen Zhe is the recipient of the Inge Morath Award from the Magnum Foundation (2011), Three Shadows Award (2011), Lianzhou Festival Photographer of the Year Award (2012), Xitek New Talent Award (2015) and the Foam Talent (2018). She is also subject of TV documentary films Chinese Viewfinder (ARTE, France, 2013) and China Through the Lens of Youth (NHK, Japan, 2014). Her publication Bees & The Bearable was awarded the Best Photobook of the Year by Kassel Fotobookfestival in 2016.
Employing the body as her first measure, Chen Zhe explores the encounter between the human and the forces that transcend it. To her, the body is capable of reaching toward the ineffable: an instrument for sensing time, a vessel of perception, and a temple where realization sparks into being.
In her art-making, the unguarded body becomes a portal to ritual, and its vulnerability a prerequisite for illumination within. This leads her to reimagine pre-scientific notions of time—measured and remembered not through precision, but through the sensorial body. She approaches divination as a fundamental human instinct: the finite body’s persistent inquiry into a vast cosmic order, through which our imagination of fate finds form in star trails, oracle bones, and the textures of the viscera.
Two gestures anchor Chen Zhe’s process: naming in the pursuit of understanding, and rewriting in recognition that complete understanding is never possible. Spanning photography, sculpture, spatial installation, and publishing, her projects often unfold over many years, with individual works annotating one another, collectively forming an ongoing journey of discovery and remembrance.
Chen Zhe (b.1989, Beijing) received her BFA in Photography and Imaging from Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Her works has been exhibited at Lillehammer Art Museum, Norway (2022); UCCA Dune, Qinhuangdao (2021); Yokohama Triennale, Japan (2020); Plug In ICA, Canada (2020); Ming Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai (2020); Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Germany (2019); White Rabbit Gallery, Australia (2019); the 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Australia (2018); Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Japan (2018); Para Site, Hong Kong (2018); OCAT Shenzhen, Shenzhen (2018); Guangzhou Photo Triennial, Guangzhou (2017); Anren Biennale, Chengdu (2017); CAFA Art Museum, Beijing (2017); the 11th Shanghai Biennial, Shanghai (2016); Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai (2016); University of Toronto Art Centre, Canada (2014); Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2013); Fotohof, Austria (2012); Three Shadows Photography Art Centre (2011) and more.
Chen Zhe is the recipient of the Inge Morath Award from the Magnum Foundation (2011), Three Shadows Award (2011), Lianzhou Festival Photographer of the Year Award (2012), Xitek New Talent Award (2015) and the Foam Talent (2018). She is also subject of TV documentary films Chinese Viewfinder (ARTE, France, 2013) and China Through the Lens of Youth (NHK, Japan, 2014). Her publication Bees & The Bearable was awarded the Best Photobook of the Year by Kassel Fotobookfestival in 2016.
陈哲的创作围绕身体、时间与命运展开，三者在她的实践中相互牵引、彼此照亮。她关注的主题往往闪现于悖论的交界：痛苦与解脱之间的身体、日与夜交替的黄昏、有限与永恒相会的命运。
借助“以身为度”为方法，陈哲近年的工作持续探寻人与超越人的存在之间的沟通可能。在她看来，身体能够抵达不可言说之物；它既是度量时间的工具，也是感知的通道和领悟的道场。
在她的作品中，敞开的身体成为了仪式的入口，其脆弱性则是点亮心灵的前提。她关注科学精确律出现之前的时间是如何被人类的肉身感官所测量与记取。她将占卜视为一种根源性的本能：有限的身体不断向宏大的宇宙秩序发问，将对未知的想象投射于星辰轨迹、甲骨裂纹与内脏纹理中。
两个核心动作始终贯穿于陈哲的创作：为追求可能的理解去“命名”，承认理解的有限性去“重写”。她的作品常以长期项目的形式展开，跨越摄影、雕塑、空间装置与出版物等媒介，共同构成了一个持续发现与忆起的过程。
陈哲，1989年生于北京，毕业于洛杉矶艺术中心设计学院，获摄影与图像学士学位。近年作品展出于利勒哈默尔美术馆（挪威 2022），UCCA沙丘美术馆（秦皇岛 2021），横滨三年展（日本 2020），Plug In ICA（加拿大 2020），明当代美术馆（上海 2020），巴登巴登国立美术馆（德国 2019），白兔美术馆（澳大利亚 2019），第9届亚太当代艺术三年展（澳大利亚 2018），东京都写真美术馆（日本 2018），Para Site艺术空间（香港 2018），OCAT当代艺术中心（深圳 2018），广州影像三年展（广州 2017），安仁双年展（成都 2017），中央美术学院美术馆（北京 2017），第11届上海双年展（上海 2016），民生现代美术馆（上海 2016），多伦多大学艺术中心（加拿大 2014），尤伦斯当代艺术中心（北京 2013），Fotohof艺廊（奥地利 2012），三影堂摄影艺术中心（北京 2011）等。
陈哲曾获赏玛格南基金会颁发的 Inge Morath 奖，三影堂摄影奖，连州摄影节新摄影奖，无忌新锐摄影奖和 FOAM Talent 摄影奖，并受邀参与法国 ARTE 电视台纪录片《镜头下的中国》和日本 NHK 电视台纪录片《青年摄影师眼中的中国》。她的出版物《蜜蜂 & 可承受的》获得卡塞尔摄影书节2016年度摄影书奖。
借助“以身为度”为方法，陈哲近年的工作持续探寻人与超越人的存在之间的沟通可能。在她看来，身体能够抵达不可言说之物；它既是度量时间的工具，也是感知的通道和领悟的道场。
在她的作品中，敞开的身体成为了仪式的入口，其脆弱性则是点亮心灵的前提。她关注科学精确律出现之前的时间是如何被人类的肉身感官所测量与记取。她将占卜视为一种根源性的本能：有限的身体不断向宏大的宇宙秩序发问，将对未知的想象投射于星辰轨迹、甲骨裂纹与内脏纹理中。
两个核心动作始终贯穿于陈哲的创作：为追求可能的理解去“命名”，承认理解的有限性去“重写”。她的作品常以长期项目的形式展开，跨越摄影、雕塑、空间装置与出版物等媒介，共同构成了一个持续发现与忆起的过程。
陈哲，1989年生于北京，毕业于洛杉矶艺术中心设计学院，获摄影与图像学士学位。近年作品展出于利勒哈默尔美术馆（挪威 2022），UCCA沙丘美术馆（秦皇岛 2021），横滨三年展（日本 2020），Plug In ICA（加拿大 2020），明当代美术馆（上海 2020），巴登巴登国立美术馆（德国 2019），白兔美术馆（澳大利亚 2019），第9届亚太当代艺术三年展（澳大利亚 2018），东京都写真美术馆（日本 2018），Para Site艺术空间（香港 2018），OCAT当代艺术中心（深圳 2018），广州影像三年展（广州 2017），安仁双年展（成都 2017），中央美术学院美术馆（北京 2017），第11届上海双年展（上海 2016），民生现代美术馆（上海 2016），多伦多大学艺术中心（加拿大 2014），尤伦斯当代艺术中心（北京 2013），Fotohof艺廊（奥地利 2012），三影堂摄影艺术中心（北京 2011）等。
陈哲曾获赏玛格南基金会颁发的 Inge Morath 奖，三影堂摄影奖，连州摄影节新摄影奖，无忌新锐摄影奖和 FOAM Talent 摄影奖，并受邀参与法国 ARTE 电视台纪录片《镜头下的中国》和日本 NHK 电视台纪录片《青年摄影师眼中的中国》。她的出版物《蜜蜂 & 可承受的》获得卡塞尔摄影书节2016年度摄影书奖。