徐文恺 Aaajiao China, b. 1984

Active online as a media artist, blogger, activist and programmer, aaajiao is the virtual identity of artist Xu Wenkai. Born in 1984 in one of China’s oldest cities Xi’an (1984 is the year used as the title of George Orwell’s classic allegorical novel), aaajiao makes his art works marked by a strong dystopian awareness, literati spirits and sophistication. With specific emphasis on the processing of data, the blogsphere and China’s Great Fire Wall, aaajiao tends to speak for the new ideologies, controversies and phenomenon in the realm of Internet. aaajiao extends his practice to various disciplines (Architecture, Topography, and Design etc.) to capture the pulse of young generation that lives in social media and consumes the cyber technology.aaajiao’s production has been featured in numerous exhibitions around the world. His upcoming shows include “Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today”, The Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, Boston (2018); “unREAL”, Haus der elektronischen Künste, Basel (2017); “Shanghai Project Part II”, Shanghai (2017); “Temporal Turn: Art and Speculation in Contemporary Asia”, Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas (2016); “Take Me (I’m Yours)” (curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Jens Hoffmann and Kelly Taxter), Jewish Museum, New York (2016); “Overpop”, Yuz Museum, Shanghai (2016); “Hack Space” (curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Amira Gad), K11 Art Foundation Pop-up Space, Hong Kong and chi K11 art museum, Shanghai (2016); “Globale: Global Control and Censorship”, ZKM | Centre for Art and Media, Karlsruhe (2015); “Thingworld International Triennial of New Media Art”, The National Art Museum of China, Beijing (2014); and Transmediale, Berlin (2010). His solo exhibition includes: “Remnants of an Electronic Past”, Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Manchester (2016); OCAT Contemporary Art Terminal Xi’an, Xi’an (2016), among others. 

He was awarded Art Sanya Awards in 2014 Jury Prize and was nominated for the first edition of OCAT-Pierre Huber Art Prize in 2014.