Shen Wei is a Chinese-born American interdisciplinary artist based in New York City. Working across photography, painting, performance, and moving image, his practice explores how bodies, botanical forms, and constructed environments shape perception, intimacy, and presence. His work examines how images, materials, and environments generate meaning through spatial and sensory encounter.
Shen Wei’s work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including the Museum of the City of New York, the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Power Station of Art in Shanghai, La Triennale di Milano, the White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney, and the Morgan Library & Museum. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker, Aperture, ArtReview, Artforum, The Burlington Magazine, and Les Inrockuptibles.
His work is held in major public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Getty Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Morgan Library & Museum, the Long Museum, and the Sharjah Art Foundation.
Shen Wei has received fellowships and residencies from the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, the Asian Cultural Council, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the La Napoule Art Foundation, among others.
He has published three monographs: A Season Particular (TBW Books, 2024), Almost Naked (Jiazazhi Press, 2018), and Chinese Sentiment (Charles Lane Press, 2011). He is the subject of the feature-length documentary film Almost Naked, which premiered at the Harlem International Film Festival in 2021.
He holds an MFA from the School of Visual Arts and a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
CV
Selected Public and Institutional Collections:
Museum of Modern Art
Getty Museum
Morgan Library & Museum
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Carnegie Museum of Art
Library of Congress
Ringling Museum of Art
North Carolina Museum of Art
Long Museum
CAFA Art Museum
He Xiangning Art Museum
Harn Museum of Art
LSU Museum of Art
Lilley Museum of Art
White Rabbit Gallery
Museum of Chinese in America
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
Museum of Contemporary Photography
Florida Museum of Photographic Arts
Griffin Museum of Photography
Southeast Museum of Photography
Kinsey Institute
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Sharjah Art Foundation
Starr Foundation
Agnes Gund Foundation
Sunpride Foundation
Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung
The Warehouse
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2025
Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam
2024
Foreign Agent, Lausanne
Zeto Art, Paris
UP Gallery, Hsinchu
2023
Flowers Gallery, London
2022
Zeto Art, Paris
SinArts Gallery, The Hague
2020
Flowers Gallery, Hong Kong
2019
Flowers Gallery, London
2018
Xie Zilong Photography Museum, Changsha
ON Gallery, Beijing
2017
Flowers Gallery, New York
Signum Foundation, Lodz
SinArts Gallery, The Hague
2015
Flowers Gallery, New York
2014
H Gallery, Bangkok
2013
Galerie Lothar Albrecht, Frankfurt
2012
Daniel Cooney Fine Art, New York
Light Work, Syracuse
Epson Imaging Gallery, Shanghai
Monika Olko Gallery, Sag Harbor
2011
Daniel Cooney Fine Art, New York
Art Institute of Boston, Boston
Lumenvisum Gallery, Hong Kong
2009
Randall Scott Gallery, New York
2008
Kunst Licht Gallery, Shanghai
Selected Group Exhibition:
2025
North Carolina Museum of Art, Then and There, Here and Now, Raleigh
White Rabbit Gallery, Tender Comrade, Sydney
2024
National Portrait Gallery, Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize, London
2023
The Morgan Library & Museum, Uncommon Denominator, New York
2022
Harn Museum of Art, Global Perspectives, Gainesville
The Ringling Museum of Art, A Decade of Collecting, Sarasota
2021
Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung, Wide Open. Ins Offene. Munich
Museum of Fine Arts, From Margins to Mainstays, St. Petersburg
Morgan Library & Museum, New at The Morgan, New York
Meou Art Center, Beyond the Borders, Shanghai
2020
LSU Museum of Art, Art in Louisiana, Views into the Collection, Baton Rouge
2019
Museum of Contemporary Photography, Go Down Moses, Chicago
Museo Fotografia Contemporanea, West East, Milan
Hasselblad Foundation, Moonlight, Göteborg
Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, From The Margins, Washington, DC
2018
CAFA Art Museum, 3rd Beijing Photo Biennial, Beijing
Museo Universitario del Chopo, Divina Comedia, Mexico City
Harn Museum of Art, Inside Outside: Outside Inside, Gainsville
2017
Bundoora Homestead Art Center, Closing the Distance, Melbourne
Boston University Art Galleries, Occupancies, Boston
2016
Power Station of Art, Snacks, Shanghai
Ringling Museum of Art, Exposure: Naked before the lens, Sarasota
Fundación Alfonso y Luz Castillo, Body and Desire, Buenos Aires
2015
La Triennale di Milano, Arts & Foods. Rituals since 1851. Milan
Museum of Fine Arts, Five Decades of Photography at MFA, St. Petersburg
Langenzersdorf Museum, Still, Langenzersdorf
2014
North Carolina Museum of Art, Private Eye, Raleigh
VanDernoot Gallery Lesley University, Visible Soul, Cambridge
2013
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Making Pictures of People, Kansas City
He Xiangning Art Museum, Local Future, Shenzhen
Kinsey Institute, Portraits from The Kinsey Institute, Bloomington
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Size really Does Matter, Los Angeles
2012
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Photography Portfolio 2012, Philadelphia
Daegu Photo Biennale, Special Exhibition: Repositioned Personal, Daegu
Liu Haisu Art Museum, Hong Kong and One World, Shanghai
2011
Museum of the City of New York, Moveable Feast, New York
Harn Museum of Art, Highlights from the Asian Collection, Gainesville
2010
Corcoran Gallery of Art, 100 Portraits, Washington D.C.
2008
Katzen Art Center, The Washington Project for the Arts, Washington DC
Performance and Moving Image
2026
Imaging Museum of Hsinchu City, Seven Videos (Screening), Hsinchu
2025
Galerie Ron Mandos, Knee Touching Knee (Performance), Amsterdam
Chinese American Arts Council, Knee Touching Knee (Performance), New York
Flowers Gallery, Knee Touching Knee (Performance), Hong Kong
2016
Galerie Christophe Tailleur, Dusk of the Harmonious Garden (Screening), Strasbourg
Education:
2006
School of Visual Arts, New York (MFA)
2003
Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis (BFA)
Awards, Fellowships, and Residencies:
Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, Creative Artist Residency (2009)
Asian Cultural Council, Asian Art and Religion Fellowship (2012)
New York Foundation for the Arts, Photography Fellowship (2016)
Light Work, Artist-in-Residency (2010)
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Photography Portfolio Prize (2012)
La Napoule Art Foundation, Artist in Residency (2023)
Hong Kong Design Institute, Visiting Fellowship (2014)
Urban Artist Initiative, New York City Fellowship (2008)
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Manhattan Arts Fund (2007, 2008)
The Griffin Museum of Photography, The Griffin Award (2007)
Monograph:
A Season Particular (TBW books, 2024)
Almost Naked (Jiazazhi Press, 2018)
Chinese Sentiment (Charles Lane Press, 2011)
Selected Bibliography:
The New York Times. “Work for the Now” July 5, 2020. New York, NY. Brown, Evan.
The Guardian. “Shen Wei’s best photograph”. May 30, 2019. London, UK. Berning, Dale.
The Guardian. “In bloom: The erotic botanics of Shen Wei.” September 23, 2017.
The New Yorker. “Critic’s Notebook: Food for Thought.” May 23, 2011. Aletti, Vince.
The New Yorker. “Review: I Miss You Already.” September 10, 2012. Aletti, Vince.
The New Yorker. “Review: Chinese Sentiment.” June 6, 2011. Aletti, Vince.
Artforum. “Portrait of the Youth”. June, 2009. Mathieu Borysevicz.
British Journal of Photography, “Diverse Views”. December, 2025. London. Wang, Tianyu.
British Journal of Photography, “Broken Sleeve”. May, 2019. London. Marigold, Warner
Art Review. “Top 10 Exhibitions to See in May 2023.” May 02, 2023. Jiang, Yuwen.
Financial Times. “Between Blossoms.” March 3, 2017. Franklin, Alice.
The Burlington Magazine. “Ten years of photography acquisitions at the Morgan Library & Museum” Oct. 2022. Bailey, Colin B.
The Paris Review, “Between Blossoms.” April 12, 2017. Piepenbring, Dan.
Wall Street Journal. “Moveable Feast.” May 7, 2011. Meyers, William.
Les Inrockuptibles. “Shen Wei.” August, 2025. Damant, Stephane.
Le Figaro. “Les tribulations de la photo en Chine”. 26 March, 2019. Paris, France. Duponchelle, Valerie.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “Fremde und vertraute chinesische Gefuhle.” Jan. 8, 2014. Schutte, Christoph.
Numéro. “Asia Now: que retenir de la foire a la Monnaie de Paris?” October, 2024. Bois-Martin, Camille.
Het Parool. “Fotografiebeurs Unseen zet vinkjes bij alle thema’s van dit moment.” September 16, 2022
The Brooklyn Rail. “Review: Alienation?” December, 2020. Morgan, Robert.
Transfuge Magazine. “Une génération chinoise à nu”. March, 2019. Paris. Guette, Henri.
Aperture Foundation. Photographer’s Playbook. New York. 2014. Fulford. Halpern.
ARTnews. “Double Exposure.” May, 2012. Landi, Ann.