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Ce Jian

@cejiance

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Berlin-based artist | 简策
@whitespacebeijing
Part of @jian.cheng_artistduo

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Our amazing artist Ce JIAN’s solo exhibition “Shapeshifter” is now on view at HOW Art Museum, from May 18 to July 20, 2025.

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Ce JIAN’s solo exhibition “Shapeshifter” takes “shapeshift” as the core proposition. Through interdisciplinary research methods based on natural history, Chinese and Western mythology, industrial manufacturing, digital technology and other fields, she constructed four series of works into an organic life system from material body to spatial virtual fantasy with flexible and logical painting language; it explores the natural transformation of the power relationship between two-dimensional and three-dimensional, entity and virtual under the de-humanized picture. The “shapeshift” here is not only a formal alienation, but also an open reorganization of content and a reconstruction of cognitive framework.

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Ce JIAN: Shapeshifter
HOW Art Museum
May 18, 2025 – July 20, 2025

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Images:
Ce JIAN: Shapeshifter, installation view, ©HOW Art Museum

@cejiance #cejian
@how_art_museum #howartmuseum taken in HOW Art Museum by @cejiance

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a year ago

Ce Jian‘s solo exhibition ’Belly of the Beast‘ is now on view through November 25, 2023.

In this new body of works, Ce Jian departs from the conventional art historical depictions that assign humanoid forms to both beasts and robots. Blending the ancient, organic bodies of the beasts and the futuristic, inorganic machines of our present time, she recreates from them fluid forms rich with visual metaphors.

The artist also pays particular attention to the gendered portrayals of beasts in mythological narratives, including but not limited to Scylla, the Sphinx, the Hydra, and the Harpy. Despite their female gender identities, these monstrous figures lack the appearances of women. Their association with evil echoes the demonization of various feminine qualities. Similarly, gendered robots such as those portrayed in Blade Runner and Ex Machina are also subjected to humans’ projection of their own self-denial, desire, and fear.

For Ce Jian, the essential task lies in the study and decoding of the fictive narratives that created these figures, thus reconstructing and affirming their mystery, complexity, and beauty, in order to critically look at our own existence. The skin of the painting (the canvas) thereby merges with the skin of the painted subjects (the beasts and the robots); they take on a renewed and rich appearance in Ce Jian‘s works, inhabiting a state of being that is organic and open. by @cejiance

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3 years ago

Installation views of my section in the newly opened group show “Painting Unsettled” @uccaedge curated by @shixuan_luan, March 11-May 21, 2023. ✨

#paintingunsettled #uccaedge #ucca #groupshow #shanghai #cejian #jiance #painting #newseries #sphinx #hydra #demoiselles #newspecies by @cejiance

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4 years ago

“Lumi”🌀
2026, acrylic and marker on canvas, 70x60cm

Painted after the mysterious bioluminescent sea snail Hinea Brasiliana, whose shell has the rare ability to produce greenish to bluish light effects.

#bioluminescence #seashells #painting #cejian #jiance by @cejiance

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6 days ago

Starting the day with an odd little creature: 🤖💚
‘Odradek’
2026, acrylic, marker, spray paint, oil pastel on canvas, 60x50cm

#cejian #painting #critters #bionic #machine by @cejiance

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14 days ago

‘Rarity’ refers to the Baroque tradition of still lifes depicting rare artefacts and natural objects from exotic regions of the world. Along with scientific models and instruments, these precious objects were collected in cabinets of curiosities (Wunderkammer) that reflect the worldview of their time.
Knowledge and projection, global trade and colonial greed form the multilayered system behind the historical European Wunderkammer. The desire to grasp, own, and understand the material world is deeply human and still relatable today - as fascinating as it is ultimately futile.

🔵🔺🟡
‘Rarity’
2026, acrylic, enamel, spray paint, marker, oil pastel on canvas, 60x80cm

Image 2-3: details
Image 4: open studio presentation, Sept. 2026

#cejian #stilllife #painting #wunderkammer exotica by @cejiance

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21 days ago

“Permutation (4)”
2026, acrylic, marker, oil pastel, collage on canvas, 45x45cm

#cejian #jiance #painting #microorganisms by @cejiance

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25 days ago

Installation views from my Open Studio during this year’s Berlin Art Week. We had such a great time — thank you to everyone who stopped by, for the in-depth conversations and for making it such a wonderful week! 🙏💜

#berlinartweek #openstudio #berlinartists #studiocejian #jiance
@whitespacebeijing @berlinartweek taken in Kurfürstenstraße by @cejiance

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a month ago

✨For the first time since moving into our beautiful shared studio on Kurfürstenstraße, Yuzheng and I are opening our doors to the public during Berlin Art Week, from 9–13 September. We are excited to host a joint Open Studio event with our neighbors, Shen Han and Evian Wenyi Zhang.

Each of us will present recent works and offer glimpses into our artistic processes. We look forward to welcoming you and sharing our work with you!

🔶 Join us for the public reception on 11 September, from 6–9 pm!
🔷 Or visit us by appointment between 9–13 September.

Studio Ce Jian / Yuzheng Cheng Kurfürstenstraße 15–16 10785 Berlin (1st backyard, right-hand entrance)

Contact: info@ce-jian.com

#berlinartweek #openstudio #studiocejian #chengyuzheng #cejian @berlinartweek
@shenhan_studio @evianwenn @whitespacebeijing @tanyaleighton @reflexiongallery taken in Kurfürstenstraße by @cejiance

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a month ago

Tanya Leighton and White Space are delighted to present a joint open studio with Shen Han (@shenhan_studio) and Ce Jian (@cejiance) during @berlinartweek.

Public reception
Friday, 11 September
6–9 pm

The studio will also be open by appointment, 9–13 September.

Kurfürstenstraße 15/16, 10785 Berlin
First courtyard, right-hand entrance

Shen Han’s work blends fragmented landscapes, abstract forms, and intuitive gestures, evoking a delicate interplay between memory, emotion, and perception. Working on unprimed canvases, he explores the relationship between instinct, body, and material, allowing his gestures to guide the creation of fluid, dreamlike pictorial planes. His technique connects abstract shapes, broken lines, and saturated colours with the subconscious, inviting viewers to navigate the ambiguous tension between form and formlessness.

Ce JIAN’s practice examines the visual systems that shape perception, balancing conceptual frameworks with the material unpredictability of painting. In recent years, she has developed a speculative vision of nature at the intersection of history and futurism, mythology and science, biology and robotics. Her semi-abstract non-human figures merge organic and technological forms into transformable bodies, creating fictive realities that are both analytical and materially grounded.

#shenhan #cejian #berlinartweek #whitespace #tanyaleighton by @cejiance

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a month ago

“Permutation (3)”
2026, acrylic, marker, oil pastel, collage on canvas, 45x45cm

#cejian #jiance #painting #hybrid #machine by @cejiance

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2 months ago

“Permutation (1)“, 2026, acrylic, marker, crayon, oil pastel on canvas, 45x45cm 🟦

#backtowork❤️ by @cejiance

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2 months ago