Guo Qikai, born in Kunming in 1994. At the age of two he underwent a cochlear implant, which has accompanied him throughout his life and learning path, including his studies at the art high school of the Yunnan Academy of Arts in China, and later his move to Italy to continue his higher artistic education, up to the present day. He attended the first- and second-level Academic Diploma programs in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, obtaining his master’s degree with distinction and honors in 2022. He exhibited at the 104th and 105th Young Artists Collective exhibitions of the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa in San Marco, Venice. He lives and works in Venice.
In Guo Qikai’s works, a strong communicative urgency is immediately perceptible, leading him to develop a pictorial language that closely adheres to the dreamlike representation of his thoughts and fears. His hearing impairment connects the artist to silence and darkness, a mysterious and frightening world within which his sense of discomfort grows and spreads throughout his body. A powerful spiritual dimension is evident in Qikai’s works: his inner thoughts burst forth with purity into a dreamlike and surreal world composed of mysterious figures suspended in another dimension. The fictional imagery of the unconscious, where past and present merge, is translated onto his canvases inhabited by enigmatic figures and abstract forms that always carry a profound iconological meaning. The world he recreates in his works is animated by flashes of light that tear through the darkness in which they are immersed, bringing comfort to small folkloric microcosms. Reality and illusion, light and shadow, memory and imagination, fear and joy merge in a continuous search for balance—a representation of the philosophy of yin and yang, central to many cultural aspects of Chinese life—creating an alienating atmosphere and a disturbing world that pushes viewers toward a deeply personal journey.
Qikai Guo - Studio
EDUCATION
10.2015 - 10.2018 BFA, Fine Arts, Academy of Fine Arts of Venice 10.2018 - 03.2022 MFA, Fine Arts, Honorary Degrees, Academy of Fine Arts of Venice ARTIST RESIDENCIES
07.2025 - 08.2025 No Name Studio, Shanghai, CN
10.2022 - 08.2023 Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, Venice, IT
07.2022 - 10.2022 Vulcano Agency, Padiglione Antares, Venice, IT
09.2015 - 02.2016 Atelier 3 + 10, Mestre, IT
SOLO & DUO EXHIBITIONS
2026 Tong Gallery, Wuxi, CN(May)
2025 Mirage, No Name Studio & 768 Gallery, Shanghai, CN
2025 Silent Dreams, Hey Barista Palace, Shanghai, CN (DUO)
2024 Metamorphosis of shining shadows, Triangle Gallery, Moscow, RU
2021 Anima Eterea, Marialuisa Tadei and Qikai Guo, Venice Biennale Il Giardino Bianco Art
Space, Venice, IT (DUO)
ART FAIRS & AWARD EXHIBITIONS
2025 The 11 th Shanghai Young Art Fair, curated by Wu Lin, Shanghai, CN
2023 Art Shenzhen, Bonian Art Space booth, Shenzhen, CN
2023 Arte Fiera Bologna, Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation booth, curated by Angelo Moya Garcia, Bologna, IT
2022 The Others Art Fair, Will-o‘-The-wisp, three artists by Tom Bull, Francesco Pacelli and Guo Qikai, DES BAINS booth, curated by Maria Valeria Biondo and Vittoria Martinotti, Turin, IT
2022 Rea! Art Fair Prize Exhibition, curated by Erica Massaccessi, Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan, IT
2022 Art Night Venice, “I dream or I am awake”, curated by Claudia Cappello, Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, atelier 16, Venice, IT
2022 FIIC 2022 The game of roles, Foyer art exhibitions, Space Foyer, Trento, IT
2022 J ackson's Painting Prize, People's Choice Awards 400 nominations for art artists, online, UK
2022 104th Young Artists collective, Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, Gallery of Piazza San Marco, Venice, IT
2022 1st Edition of the Todi Biennale, curated by Diego Costantini, Roberta Giulieni and
Yongxu Wang, Tower Gallery, Todi, IT
2021 Start-Padova, Studies for the Arts, exhibition of the finalists, Studio Alcor, Padova, IT
2021 The Ecstasy of Darkness, curated by Cao Cheng and Zhong Qiyang, Si Giovanni Artists Association (ASGA), Milan, IT
2021 Competition for Young Chinese and Italians on Art and Design Works, AAIE Center for Contemporary Art, Online 2021 Skyline, Villa Venino, A60 Contemporary Art Space, Novate Milanese, Milan, IT
2021 Skyline, A60 Contemporary Art Space, Milan, IT
2021 La Terr a Quieta Jing Tu, BAG-Biennale Arte Giovane, Sino-Italian Biennale Young Art, online 2021 Ilaria Ciardi Award, Academy of Fine Arts of Ravenna, Ravenna, IT
2020 1st Engr aving Prize, curated by Fu Sen and Liu Yuewenjia, Kezuo Art Space, Venice, IT
2019 Paolina Brugnatelli Foundation, Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, Bologna, IT
2019 Paolina Brugnatelli Foundation, Forte Marghera, Venice, IT
2019 Art Night Venice, Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, atelier 16. Venice, IT
2019 Nobody is too small to make a differ ence, collective exhibition, Art Night Venice, curated
by Ferrara Diana, Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, atelier 5, Venice, IT
2019 6th Biennial of Engr aving, Contempor ary Gr aphics, Bassano del Grappa Civic Museums, Bassano del Grappa, IT
2019 Fascination and Curiosity of the animal world in art, curated by Elena Roberto, Academy
of Fine Arts of Venice, Venice, IT
2019 Mini Print Paese Exchange, international graphic art exhibition, Villa Panizza n.6, Paese TV, IT
2018 Mestre Painting Award, curated by Marco Dolfin, Candiani Cultural Center of Mestre,
GROUP EXPOSITIONS
2026 Gaudium Gallery, Naples, IT (Sep)
2026 Intreccio, No Name Studio & 768 Gallery, Hong Kong, CN
2026 Gaze and Wander, Philosophy Space of Art, Xiamen, CN
2025 Our Generation: Prisms of Memory and Sketches of the Future, The 4
the National Youth Art Invitational Exhibition, curated by Wu Lin, Hai Pai Art Museum, Shanghai, CN
2025 Mirror·Sea-Infinte Gaze, curated by Cuiwei Xue and Aurelien Krafft, AiWei art museum, Kunming, CN
2025 Beyond the Horizon, curated by Guozhi Ye, Xi Fang Da Yuan Y1-2, Guangzhou, CN
2024 Son of Nature -The 4
th Exhibition of Yunnan Oil Painting Society, Kunming Museum, CN
2024 Laurentianum, Mestre Painting Award, Centro Culturale Laurenziano in Piazza Ferretto, Venice, IT
2023 Rapsodia Dell’Abbondanza, curated by Caterina Fondelli, C.F. Contemporary Fire and
Spazio Murka, Florence, IT
2023 Didnysus, Dake Art Gallery, Chengdu, CN
2023 Mestre Painting Award, a centro culturale Canadian di Mestre, Venice, IT
2023 Clarity is close to the sun, Venice Curatorial Course & Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, Sala del Camino Giudecca, Venice, IT
2023 Pr elude to the backflow,curated Wang Yaoli, Bonian Art Space, Beijing, CN
2023 Seeing from outside, Seeing from inside, curated by Angelo Moya Garcia, Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, Gallery of piazza San Marco, Venice, IT
2023 Troubled Waters, 10 winners of the Rea Arte Prize, Lampo Milano, Milan, IT
2023 105th Young Artists collective, Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, Gallery of Piazza San Marco, Venice, IT
2023 Sunny Art Centre, 30 Gray’s Inn Rd, London, UK
2022 Extra Ordinary, workshop gallery curated by Nico Covre, Carlo di Raco, Daniele Capra e Martino Scavezzon, Spazio Padiglione Antares, Venice, IT
2022 Mestre Painting Award, curated by Marco Dolfin, Candiani Cultural Center of Mestre, Venice, IT
2022 Combat Prize, reported in the award catalogue, Livorno, IT
2022 3,2,1 StArt! 10+4 emerging artists on display, Altinate San cultural center Gaetano, Padua
2018 Award cer emony, virtual exhibition, Sora, IT
2018 High Density, Art Night Venice, art frees the night, Salt Warehouse 3 Dorsoduro 264, Venice, IT
2018 Art Night Venice, With the lights almost off, Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, atelier 5. Venice, IT
2017 Shadow,Art Night Venice,Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, atelier 16.Venice, IT
Mestr e Painting Award, curated Marco Dolfin, D'E.M. Pinacoteca di Venezia, Venice, IT
2016 Atelier 3 + 10, with the theme Contents in Continents, Venice, IT
2016 Made in Venice, D'E.M. Pinacoteca di Venezia, Venice, IT
2015 Atelier 3 + 10, with the open studio theme, Venice, IT
AWARDS
2023 Mestre Painting Prize, The Third Prize, Venice, IT
2022 Rea! Art Fair, Exhibition Art Prize, Milan, IT
2021 Competition for young Chinese and Italians on artistic and design works, Excellence Award
Roma, IT
2021 Ilaria Ciardi, Special Prize, Ravenna, IT
2019 Paolina Brugnatelli Foundation Art Prize 2019, First Prize, Venice, IT
2017 Mestre Painting Prize, Special Prize, Venice, IT
2013 9th National Competition “High School Artistic Talent”, Gold Award, Beijing, CN
2013 Winner of the National Competition "the dream world of Chinese youth", Kunming, CN
COLLECTIONS
Shanghai EMI Art Museum, Shanghai
Mestre Painting Prize,Centro Culturale Laurenziano in Piazza Ferretto,Venice Paolina Brugnatelli Foundation, Milan WORK EXPERIENCE
2024 - 2025 Yunnan University of Economics and Management, Arts and Media Art, Kunming
2018 The 16
the Venice Biennale of Architecture and Art, China Pavilion related work, Venice 2017 The 57
the Venice Art Biennale, China Pavilion related work, Venice