Kunniao Tong (b. 1990, Changsha, China) works across instal-lation, performance, video, sculpture, and painting. He is adept at using “excess products” generated by the modern world—a perpetual waste-making factory, and “leftovers” that have been found in resale shops, the flea markets or on the streets. He concerns about how the complex social structure has deter-mined our social status and eaten up our individual identities. By decomposing ready-made objects and reassembling them in tandem or keeping them perfectly in balance, Tong aims to demonstrate the individual consciousness (the free spirit) be-hind the objects as well as the multiplicity and fragility of the system. In an era when commodity fetishism and symbol con-sumption are prevalent, and information is overloaded, Tong’s work extends beyond formal boundaries of reconstruction and presents it in a quirky and seemly absurd manner.
Recent exhibition: “Wilted flowers, the bad bird and Q”, PIFO Gallery, Beijing, 2023. “Wiltopia”, Hua International Gallery, Berlin, Germany, 2022. “The Myth of Human Nature”, SETAREH Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2022. “ARTIST’S GAME”, OCAT, Shenzhen, 2022. “SAILING”, TAG Art Museum, Qingdao, 2022. “I Am the Nature-on Vulnerability, Survival in A Society Aisk”, Rohkunstbau 26, Germany, 2021. “Golden Dystopia on Three Millimeters”, Cc Foundation, Shanghai, 2021. “Just Stay in the Cold”, Hua International, Berlin, Germany, 2020. “NIAO x KUN x TONG”, Jupiter Museum, Shenzhen, 2020. “I don’t MISS u”, XPM, Changsha, China, 2019. “Birdindefinite”, MIFA 1862, Shanghai, 2018. “When Dog’s Mouth Spits Ivory”, Setareh Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2017. “Dans Le Ventre Du Pig-enon, Il Y A Non Seulement Du Caca, Mais Du Pain Aussi”, Liusa Wang Gallery, Paris, France, 2017. “Over Pop”, Yuz Art Museum, Shanghai, 2016. “Why Don’t You Eat Stinky Tofu?”, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, 2016. “Dreaming a Baton the Floor”, Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Beijing, 2016. “Tong Kunniao”, Platform China Contemporary Art Insti-tute, Beijing, 2015. etc.