Bio

Rong Bao (b. 1997, China) lives and works between Beijing and London. She earned her MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art in 2023, after studying Sculpture and Public Art at the China Academy of Art and later transferring to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she received her BFA in 2021 with a Distinguished Scholarship.

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From February to May 2024, Bao held her debut solo exhibition RONG BAO IS ME at Saatchi Gallery, marking not only a milestone in her own career but also the first-ever solo exhibition by a Chinese female artist in the institution’s history.

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Bao was named one of the “Top 10 Emerging Artists” by UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in 2022 and was shortlisted for New Contemporaries in the UK. She is the recipient of the COLAB/Royal College of Art/Yorkshire Sculpture Park Graduate Award and the British Council’s Connections Through Culture grant in 2023, as well as the Gilbert Bayes Award from the Royal Society of Sculptors in 2024. The same year, she was nominated for the UCCA Young Patron of the Year Award and commissioned by Tate Collective to create a new project. In 2025, she was commissioned by Pinacoteca Agnelli in Italy to produce a large-scale sculpture for the La Pista 500 public art program, and by Selfridges in the UK for a major new installation.

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She has been invited as a visiting tutor and lecturer at leading art and academic institutions, including Tate, Getty Center, University College London, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, University of Utah, University of Westminster, South Thames College, and the University for the Creative Arts, among others.​​​

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 Artist Statement

 

In the realm of my artistic exploration, playfulness and humor serve as the foundation upon which I construct a surreal interpretation of the world. My practice, deeply rooted in a multidisciplinary approach that spans sculpture, painting, video, and installation, is an invitation to engage with the familiar in unfamiliar ways. Through my work, I aim to initiate a dialogue with the absurd. Fascination with mischief and deviance underscores my creations, introducing feelings not traditionally associated with the solemnity of gallery spaces. This deviation from the norm serves as a critical, yet playful, commentary on societal dysfunctions—critiquing themes of overconsumption, consumerism, and environmental disregard. My art emerges as a humorous yet poignant reflection on the human experience, striving to highlight the often overlooked absurdities ingrained in our daily lives and cultural practices.