BIRD HEAD is an artist collective whose oeuvre consists of photographic captures of everyday life in their native city Shanghai. The snap-shot aesthetic of their extensive and accumulative photo-series (b/w as well as color) delivers a subjective and un-retouched take on todays' urban reality .

"I often feel that November is a boy with his trouser pockets filled with roasted chestnut, wearing a thin shirt in the chilly wind, and walking aggressively and bravely. A long time ago, before Starbucks, McDonald's and Dolby-surrounding cinemas, in numerous sunny November days, the idle boys had to wander in groups across the streets, fiercely and energetically. And seemingly, our Shanghai grows in their wandering and repeated stare. The dark-green scaffolds are removed and mounted; the cement columns of the viaducts silently form the shade over our heads; large landscape expands across the old houses that have once witnessed our birth; during typhoon season, the ferry dock trembles in Huangpu River; at midnight, earthwork trucks run across the void roads. Tank cars. Roses. Ruins. Fountains. Fireworks. It takes too long and the night is looming. They almost cross the entire Shanghai, when the columns of the viaducts are occupied by green Boston ivy.

Our hearts are filled with a huge amount of love and sadness.

Afterwards, there are metro and light rail, crossing through Shanghai under the ground or in the sky. Time passes too quickly for us to make a revolutionary posture. No time for questions and hesitation. There's a voice pushing us, following the boy with chestnuts, wandering aggressively and aimlessly, to witness what shadow our Shanghai will create and when the ivy will cover all the roads."

JI Weiyu (1980) and SONG Tao (1979) were both born in Shanghai, where they also reside and work today. The artists graduated from the Shanghai Arts and Crafts School in 2000. Recent exhibitions include: The 54th Venice Biennale——ILLUMInations, Venice, Italy (2011); China Power Station - part 4, Pinacoteca Agnelli, Torino, Italy (2010); The World of Other's: A Contemporary Art Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai (2008); China Power Station II, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway (2007). And their solo exhibitions include: Birdhead: New Village, EX3 Centro per l'arte Contemporanea Firenze, Florence, Italy (2011); Artist File 2011 The NACT Annual Show of Contemporary Art, National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan (2011); Welcome to the World of Bird Head Again-2010, Guangzhou; Lianzhou (2010); Bird Head 2006+2007 Photography Show, BizArt, Shanghai (2007).

1980    Ji Weiyu born in Shanghai
1979    Song Tao born in Shanghai

Education

2000     Ji Weiyu graduated from the Shanghai Arts and Crafts School
    Song Tao graduated from the Shanghai Arts and Crafts School

Solo Exhibitions

2012     Welcome to the World of Bird Head Again-Beijing 2012, ShanghART Beijing
    Welcome to the World of Bird Head Again-London, Paradise Row Gallery, London, U.K.
2011     Birdhead: New Village , EX3 Centro per l'arte Contemporanea Firenze, Florence, Italy
    Artist File 2011 The NACT Annual Show of Contemporary Art , National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan
2010     Welcome to the World of Bird Head Again-2010, Guangzhou; Lianzhou
2008     Landscape, ShanghART at Huaihai Rd 796, Shanghai
    Landscape, Birdhead Solo Exhibition, ShanghART F-Space, Shanghai
2007     Birdhead 2006+2007, Photography Show by Song Tao, Ji Weiyu, Shanghai BizArt Art Center, Shanghai
2005     Welcome to Bird Head World , Photography by Bird Head 2004-2005, ShanghART H-Space, Shanghai

Group Exhibitions

2012     New Photography 2012, The Museum of Modern Art, NewYork, U.S.A.
    Architectural Photography – Made in China, Guest Exhibition of the International Photography Scene in Koeln Museum of Applied Arts(MAKK), MAKK, Cologne, Germany
    Shanghart Beijing Group Exhibition, ShanghART Beijing
    Art 43 Basel - Booth Nr: K15, Art Fairs Basel, Switzerland
    Revitalising-A Gathering upon Awakening of Insects, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai
2011     Growing Up, Exhibition celebrating SWFC 3rd & ShanghART Gallery 15th Anniversary, Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai
    ShanghART Gallery Autumn Group Show, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai
    ShanghART Gallery Summer Group Show, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai
    The 54th Venice Biennale——ILLUMInations, Venice, Italy
    ShanghART Group Show, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai
    A Pile of Passion, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai
2010     Focus Shanghai, Lu Chunsheng and Birdhead, Thomas Erben Gallery, NY, U.S.A.
    China Power Station - part 4, Pinacoteca Agnelli, Torino, Italy
    Portrait, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai
    Make Over, OV Gallery, Shanghai
2009     B.A.G Art Project, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai
    Emporium, A New Common Sense of Space, The National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci", Milano
    Reversed Image, Representations of Shanghai and its Contemporary Material Culture, Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago , Chicago, U.S.A.
    2009 German Week: Every Human Being is an Artist, Times Square, Shanghai
    Shanghai History in Making from 1979 till 2009, Shanghai
    Warm Up, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai
    MUTE, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai
    Art Economies beyond Pattern Recognition, Osage gallery, Shanghai
    Another scene - artists' projects, concepts and ideas, ShanghART H-Space, Shanghai
    China Now, The Edge of Desire, Lillian Heidenberg Fine Art，Max Lang Gallery,New York,U.S.A
    UP CLOSE, FAR AWAY, Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany
    Reversed Images , Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, U.S.A.
2008     Hybrid , ShanghART at Huaihai Rd 796, Shanghai
    Insomnia, Photographs Exhibition, BizART, Shanghai
    The World of Other's: A Contemporary Art Exhibition, Museum of Contemportary Art, Shanghai
    Art Multiple 2008, Ke Center for the Contemporary Arts, Shanghai
    New Photography in China, One of the Largest Surveys of Emerging Photography Talent from China, Hong Kong Fringe Club, Hong Kong Art Center
2007     Celebrating, Chinese Contemporary Photography Exhibition, epSITE, Shanghai
    China Power Station: Part II, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway
    Individual Position 2 , Video, Photo, and Installation, ShanghART H-Space, Shanghai
2005     The 1st Lianzhou International Photo Festival, Double Vision, Culture Square Lianzhou, Lianzhou, Guangdong

Projects

2008     Pre-order Birdhead 2006 Album