Chris Zhongtian Yuan
In this exhibition of film, sculpture and drawing, Chris Zhongtian Yuan recomposes vernacular sonic, spatial and archival materials to build connections between seemingly distant geographies. Yuan’s film, All Trace Is Gone, No Clamour for a Kiss, is structured as a dialogue between two exiled individuals who are about to reincarnate into the next life. Traversing moving image, animation, and archival footage, the viewer catches glimpses of bodily presence as the figures proceed through the forest, striking up intimate conversations that reveal family legends, collective histories, love tales and folklore.
The film interweaves personal and historical narratives, and uses a composition of free jazz, vocal improvisations, and popular music to reveal the ghostly connections between Chinese, West African and Caribbean diasporas. The dialogue between the two characters appears only on screen, as the film is led by a sonic narrative - a score composed and performed in collaboration with trumpeter Kevin G. Davy. Alongside the film, seven clay sculptures and a large-scale drawing trace transnational sounds and texts. Embracing affect and storytelling, Yuan’s work explores the intimacy between sound and narrative and place.
Chris Zhongtian Yuan (b. 1988, China) is an artist based in London. Working with video, sound, performance, sculpture and installation, their work builds around the notion of ‘Punk filmmaking’, considering space, relation and context. Yuan often deploys improvisation techniques drawn from a wide range of music, including punk, jazz and noise. As such, resistance becomes a nuanced, playful and collective act across cultures and places. Recent solo exhibitions and screenings include: Current Plans, Hong Kong (2025); Triangolo, Cremona (2025); Surplus Space, Wuhan (2024); Reading International, Reading (2023); Macalline Art Center, Beijing (2023); V.O Curations, London (2022); The Courtauld Institute of Art, London (2021); 1815, K11, Wuhan (2020). Recent and forthcoming group exhibitions and screenings include: Shanghai Biennale (2025); MAC Panama (2025); Kunsthal Rotterdam (2025); Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2025); Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou (2024); Somerset House, London (2024, 2022, 2021); International Film Festival Rotterdam (2023); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2022); OCAT Institute, Beijing (2021, 2020); Power Station of Art, Shanghai (2021); Videoex, Zurich (2021); Documentary Exhibition of Fine Art Triennale, Wuhan (2020); Venice Architecture Biennale Greek Pavilion, Venice (2018) among others.
