Bio

Rong Bao 包蓉 (b.1997, China) completed her MA in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art in 2023 and previously studied Public Sculpture at the China Academy of Art and School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received her BFA in 2021 with Distinguished Scholarship.  She was one of the Top 10 China UCCA Lab x Perrier New Emerging Artists and was shortlisted for UK New Contemporaries in 2022, and he recipient of the 2023 theCOLAB/YSP/RCA Graduate Award which enabled her to make her first foray into the field of Public Sculpture in2023. Her 2023 exhibitions include Middlesbrough Art Week, at Bomb Factory, Guts Gallery, the Colab and as part of Hung, Drawn & Quartered, Standpoint Gallery London. Past exhibitions include: Beijing (Pinggu) Land Art Festival, Beijing Spurs Gallery, and Beijing Gallery weekend, EXPO CHICAGO 2022. She is co-president for ‘Walkative Society’ in 2022-2023. 

 

Rong Bao's art is a playful yet provocative exploration of deviation, defamiliarization, futility, interaction, and mischievousness. Through her use of a variety of materials, she creates works that challenge our perceptions of the world around us. At the heart of Rong's art is a sense of deviance, a willingness to push against the boundaries of what is considered acceptable. Her works often take familiar objects and transform them in unexpected ways, creating a sense of defamiliarization that encourages viewers to question their preconceptions. Rong's art is also characterized by a sense of futility, a recognition that our efforts to control the world around us are often in vain. Her works often feature playful yet futile gestures, inviting viewers to engage with them in a way that emphasizes the absurdity of our attempts to impose order on the world. Interaction is a key component of Rong's art. She creates works that are meant to be experienced, inviting viewers to touch, play, and engage with them in a physical way. This sense of interaction creates a sense of mischievousness, encouraging viewers to participate in the playful yet subversive world she has created.