Catlin Art Prize winner talks London, defying ‘bosses’ and being a guinea pig for her work
“If I don’t go to hell, who will?” laughs Zhu Tian, the Hangzhou-born, London-based artist as she speaks about Money, her daring ongoing performance piece in which she lays bare her bank balance report every month for the rest of her life.
To say the Royal College of Art MA graduate artist is a daredevil may be an understatement. Bold yet sincere in both her demeanor and her work, Zhu Tian has made a name for throwing herself into her artwork and using herself as a guinea pig, perhaps most famously in Cling To A Curator which saw her using cling film to bind herself to curators. It is this spitfire attitude that has made her one of the most enticing young artists to watch on the contemporary art scene.
See also: 5 Local Artists To Watch In Hong Kong
A collection of the artist’s newest and most iconic works spanning sculptures, site-specific installations and performances—including 2015 Catlin Art Prize-winning installation Dirty, neon-lighted Dear Boss, and Money—is on show at The Best of Everything, the inaugural exhibition at Galerie Huit’s new Kwun Tong address running from now until November 17.
We spoke to the artist about the inspiration behind each exhibited piece as well as her love affair with London, which interestingly, started right here in Hong Kong.
What inspired you to bring these particular pieces to Hong Kong?
It's the unique audience and art scene in Hong Kong [that we loved]. We wanted different types of my works in the show—installations, neon lights, living plants and kinetic work.
Actually, Hong Kong was the reason I moved to the UK 16 years ago. Visiting Hong Kong was my first time outside of China, and I got a taste of the Western culture and realised there was another whole big world outside of China. I’ve always been a person looking for more freedom, and I felt I was more comfortable in a freer Western culture where there was more acceptance to different types of people or choices. So I decided to move to the UK.
People in London are always talking about moving away but not many actually do so—you can’t really think of anywhere cooler than that. People talk about Berlin being the new art centre but there’s still a lack of other parts of the chain, such as collectors and local galleries. London’s got the longest history in contemporary arts that is all still there.