Biography:

Guan Wei (b. 1957, Beijing) is an artist who currently lives and works in Australia and Beijing.

Following his graduation from the Department of Fine Arts at the Capital Normal University (Beijing, 1986), Guan worked as a painter and high school art teacher. In 1988, he was invited to organize an exhibition at the apartment of Nicholas Jose, the Cultural Counselor of the Australian Embassy in China at that time. In 1989, he was invited to partake in an artist residency program at the Tasmanian School of Art in Hobart, Australia. Guan subsequently became an Australian resident in 1993.

Guan has exhibited widely. Some early international exhibitions include ‘Silent Energy: New Art from China’ (Modern Art Oxford, 1993) and ‘Mao Goes Pop: China Post-1989’ (Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art, 1993). More recent exhibitions include ‘The Rose Crossing: Contemporary Art in Australia’ (Sherman Galleries, Sydney, 1999), the second and third Asia-Pacific Triennials (Queensland Art Gallery, Australia, 1996 and 1999) and the Gwangju Biennale entitled ‘Man + Space’ (Gwangju Biennale Hall, South Korea, 2000).