YAO LU 姚璐

Yao Lu (姚璐), born in 1967 in Beijing, is a Beijing-based artist and Professor of Photography at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He graduated with a Bachelor Degree from the Printmaking Department at CAFA and completed a Master of Arts in Visual Arts from a joint program between the Central Academy of Fine Arts - CAFA and Griffith University’s Queensland College of Art - QCA in Australia in 2000. Yao Lu has developed a recognizable technique of photomontaged manipulations that borrow from classical Chinese aesthetic style of painting. His comments on the rapid changes of the environment and consequences of the modernization in China show the tension between the past and present. His works seem harmonious from far, but a closer look reveals depiction of contemporary issues artist has been tackling in his artworks. Photoshopping reality is an artist’s way to decode the same reality and the symbols one is surrounded by living in a constantly changing culture. Sharp contrast between the once harmonious nature and the new devastating and polluted environment serves as a warning to the viewer about the ramifications of the large-scale transformations for the society.