INFO
| Name | Xun Cao |
| Also known as | Ken Xun Cao |
| Country of Birth | China |
| Place of Residence | Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland |
| Ethnicities | Chinese |
| Artform | Visual arts, Fashion |
| Decades Active | 2010s, 2020s |
ABOUT
Ken Xun Cao is a photographic artist and fashion photographer based in Tāmaki Makaurau. In Cao’s work, which explores emotional discomfort and shame arising from childhood experiences, bodies — often without faces — are a recurring subject. By embracing these feelings, the obverse is evident: desire and beauty, as well as a playful and improvisatory quality express an overt and ecstatic queerness in Cao’s images. Cao’s work has been extensively exhibited throughout Aotearoa and his commercial work has been published internationally.
Staged studio photographs with simple yet provocative props, candid shots and still-life-like portraits of banal yet suggestive objects (e.g. a household funnel, a tomato with a bulge) are part of his varied repertoire of image making. He frequently clothes his models in translucent, tensile garments, exposing or emphasising the contours of the male form.
Many of Cao’s images evoke a tone of desire that is pervasive in fashion photography through the objectification of bodies. Cao has stated that bodies are natural sculptures and have the ability to most directly express one’s feelings.
Cao was born in Jiangxi, China. He has a Bachelor's degree in Photography and Media Arts from Unitec Institute of Technology, and graduated with an MFA from Elam School of Fine Arts in 2017. He currently lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau.
LINKS
Key works / presentations
2022 – Divergent: New Photography Aotearoa, The Renshaws, Brisbane
2021 – Command & Conquer: The Covert Sculpture, PARASITE Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau
2021 – MĀNAWATIA TAKATĀPUI/DEFENDING PLURALITY, Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga
2020 – Shrinking Violet, play_station artist-run space, Pōneke
2019 – The Mood Machine, with Satellites, Q Theatre, Tāmaki Makaurau
2018 – Fat Duck, The Pah Homestead, Tāmaki Makaurau
2017 – The Tomorrow People, Adam Art Gallery, Pōneke
2017 – I Hate You, I Hate You, I Hate You, Because I Don't Hate You; I Love You... co-organised by Artspace Aotearoa and Michael Lett Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau
2015 – New Perspectives, 4 Cross St Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau