Kaifan Wang’s (b. 1996; China) way of thinking carries a nomadic quality—an outlook that threads sentimentally through his artistic practice. Wang brings a global perspective to storytelling. He has a rare talent for weaving connections between the experiences of the Chinese diaspora and the layered narratives embedded in the locations where he lives and works. For him, migration is less about movement and more about navigating cultural signifiers across geographies and epochs, uncovering meaning in the present moment. His work draws from a wide spectrum of references, linking them in ways that are at once unexpected and deeply considered. In his paintings, the gestures and motions echo the experiences of Inner Mongolian emigrants—some brushstrokes flowing with gravity or the rhythm of the composition, others deliberately resisting it. Aware of the distinct trajectories of Chinese and Western abstraction, Wang’s visual language meditates on fragmented cultural identities and the shifting nature of migration. Through sweeping gestures and dynamic applications of oil, oil stick, and acrylic, his work offers interpretations that resonate both intellectually and emotionally—on a subject that often eludes clear definition.
Solo exhibitions of Wang include “One Piece” at BLUM Los Angeles; “Bull Washer” at Commune Gallery, Vienna; “Cross Ventilation” at Gene Gallery, Shanghai and “Lunar Fountains” at Long Story Short/Los Angeles. Wang’s work has been featured in numerous institutional group exhibitions at Yuz Museum, Shanghai; TANK Shanghai; Songwon Art Center, Seoul; Wilhelm Hallen, Berlin; Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai; and FLUXUS+ Museum, Potsdam among others.
His work is included in the permanent collections of the Yuz Foundation Collection; Pond Society Shanghai; the Wigam Collection; Hanwha Foundation of Culture and Louis Vuitton among others.
Wang was featured in Influential 2023: Forbes China Contemporary Young Artists and won the Ivan Juritz Prize 2022, funded by King’s College London and Mahler & LeWitt Studios in Spoleto, Italy. He also received the HypoVereinsbank KunstCUBEs One-Year Artist Grant. The first monograph of his work was released in October 2024.
The artist studied in Shanghai and Florence, before completing his Fine Arts education with a Diploma and Meisterschüler at the Universität der Künste in Berlin in 2022.
Wang currently lives and works in Berlin.
