The Gao Brothers are two Chinese artists respectively Zhen (born in 1956) and Qiang Gao (born in 1962) from Jinan, in the province of Shandong, China.

They lost their father when they were both really young, officially he committed suicide after being incarcerated, even though they strongly doubt that their father actually killed himself. This is most probably why their art is charged with social and political undertones, just think of how many times they use Mao’s image.

Later on they both attended college and graduated: Gao Zhen from Shandong Academy of Fine Arts and Gao Qiang from QufuNormal University.

During the 80s they started to work together on performances, installations, sculptures and photos.

In 1989 they took part to a group exhibition organized at the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), which marked the beginning of their career.

In 2002 the two brothers moved to Beijing where they began to work in the artists district called 798 Art Zone in the Dashanzi Art District.

Now their art is globally recognized and some of their artworks are part of the most important private and public collections in China and across the world such as Steven Cohen, Uli Sigg, Adrian David and Charles Saatchi, Ramin Salsali,Centre Georges Pompidou, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Princeton University Art Museum, Kemper Museum Of Contemporary Art.

Solo exhibitions

2015 Lost Landscape: Gao Brothers Photography Exhibition, Gao Brothers Center of Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
The Gao Brothers: Between The Wall of Utopia, Ifa Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
Ruins: Gao Brothers Photography Exhibition, Shang Space, Beijing, China

2014 The Gao Brothers: The Utopia of Construction, Museum of Art Detroit, Detroit, USA
The Utopia of 20 Minutes Embrace, RH Contemporary Art, New York, USA

2013 Between Spiritual and Material Space: The Photographic World of the Gao Brothers, Hua Gallery, London, UK
The Gao Brothers: The Execution of Christ, Albert Benamou Gallery, Paris, France
Like Thunder Out of China, Arsenal Montreal, Montreal, Canada

2012 The Gao Brothers, Vue Privée Gallery – Art Stage Singapore, Singapore
The Utopia of Hugging for 20 Minutes, Rome, Italy
(Un)Forbidden City. La post-rivoluzione della nuova arte cinese, Rome, Italy
The Gao Brothers: Grandeur and Catharsis, Walsh Gallery, Chicago, USA

2010 The Gao Brothers: Grandeur and Catharsis, Kemper Museum Of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, USA
The Gao Brothers, Gallery Adrian David, Knokke-zoute (Kustlaan 335), Belgium
The Gao Brothers, Duncan Miller Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Portrait: Gao Brothers Painting Exhibition, China Art Archives & Warehouse, Beijing, China

2008 Sense of Space, Galerie Art Mûr, Montreal, Canada
Some Space for Humanity: Gao Brothers Photography Exhibition, Iaf Gallery, Shanghai, China
The Gao Brothers, Vallois Gallery, Paris, France
The Utopia of Construction, Gao Brothers Center For Contemporary Art, Beijing, China

2007 The Gao Brothers, Albert Benamou Gallery, Paris, France
The Gao Brothers, Limn Gallery, San Francisco, USA
The Utopia of 20 Minutes Embrace, Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany
Another World: Gao Brothers Photography Exhibition, Arles Photo Festival, Arles, France
The Gao Brothers, Boxart Gallery, Verona, Italy
The High Place: Gao Brothers Photography and Sculpture Exhibition, Beijing New Art Projects, Beijing, China
The Miserable Prostitutes: Gao Brothers’ Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Gao Brothers Center For Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
From China with Love: Gao Brothers Photography and Sculpture Exhibition, Walsh Gallery, Chicago, USA

2006 Miss Mao: Gao Brothers Sculpture and Photography Exhibition, Krampf/Pei Gallery, New York, USA
One and Together: Gao Brothers Photography Exhibition, Moscow House of Photography - Gallery on Solyanka, Moscow, Russia
The passage of Time: Gao Brothers Photography Exhibition, La Galerie Guislain Etats d’ Art, Paris, France
The Utopia of Hugging, London, Nottingham, Marseilles, France
Trope of Body: Gao Brothers Photography Exhibition, Beijing New Art Projects, Beijing, China

2005 One Abandoned Building’s Visual Story — Gao Brothers Photography Exhibition, Beijing New Art Projects, Beijing, China

2002 A Dinner With The Homeless People, performance, Jinan, China

2001 Embrace: Gao Brothers' New Works, Courtyard Gallery, Beijing, China

2000 Fuse: Gao Brothers' Photography, Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai, China

1995 The End of Mankind: Gao Brothers’ Installations, Jinan Painting Institute, China

Group exhibitions

2016 Interwoven Abstractions, Gao Brothers and Le Guo, Hua Gallery, Contemporary Chinese Art Gallery Online
Stifled! More than Smog, Distance Gallery, Tianjin, China

2015 Stifled! More than Smog, Tree Gallery, Beijing, China
Beyond the Earth: The First Xian Contemporary Art Document Exhibition, Xian Art Museum, Xian, China
Shame, Museum Dr.Guislain, Gent, Belgium
Love In China, Yan Huang Art Museum, Beijing, China
Secret Love, Tropen Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Dead: A Celebration of Morality, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Temporary Boundary: A Survey on China Censured Videos & Photographs, Paris-Beijing Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2014 Outside the Lines: New Art from China, RH Contemporary Art, New York, USA

2013 Like Thunder Out of China, Arsenal Montreal, Montreal, Canada

2012 Un-Forbidden: the Post-Revolution of New Chinese Art, Macro Museum, Rome, Italy

2011 Drapeau rouge / Red Flag, Contemporary Chinese Art in Montreal Collections, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
Verboten, Thomas Ammann Fine Art AG, Zurich, Switzerland
Pino Pascali. Return to Venice/ Apulia Contemporary Art, Palazzo Michiel dal Brusà, Venice, Italy
Middle East, Middle Kingdom, Etemad Gallery, Dubai, UAE
In God We Trust Contemporary Chinese Art, Bard College, New York, USA

2010 Daegu Photo Biennale, Daegu Culture and Art Center, Daegu, Korea
Intramoenia Extra Art Mirages, Alfonso’s Castle, Brindisi, Italy
Reshaping History: China Art from 2000 to 2009, National Conference Center, Beijing, China
State of the Dao: Chinese Contemporary Art, Lehman College Art Gallery, New York, USA
Hotbed: Shandong Contemporary Art, Sunshine International Museum, Beijing, China

2009 Vancouer Biennale, Vancouver, Canada
Action—Camera, Beijing Performance Photography, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver,
Canada
Madre Coraggio, la mostra di Achille Bonito Oliva al Ravello Festival, Italy
Made In China, the Museum of New Art (MONA), Detroit, USA
The Very Condition, Wall Art Museum, Beijing, China
Contact Photo Festival, Drake Hotel, Toronto, Canada
Between the Sexes, Paris Beijing Photo Gallery, Beijing, China
Xun Dao: Searching for Spirituality in Contemporary Chinese Art, Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York, USA

2008 Mahjong, Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, The Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, USA
The 2008 Fotofest 12th International Photography Biennial, Houston, USA
China…Forward: China Contemporary Art, TSUM, Moscow, Russia
Ah! We: Chinese Contemporary Art 1978-2008, China National Theater, Beijing, China

2007 Chinese Aroma-Huantie Times Chinese Art Invitation Exhibition, Huan Tie Times Art, Beijing, China
Made in Beijing: China Contemporary Art, Modern Art Museum of Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
China Under Construction: Contemporary Art from the People’s Republic, Beborah Colton Gallery, Houston, USA
The Exhibition Of Chinese Contemporary Social Art, The State Tretyakov Museum, Moscow, Russia
The Photographs of the Performance in China, Ying Art Center, Beijing, China
Dragon’s Evolution, China Square, New York
Breathe: Shandong Contemporary Art Exhibition, Shandong Museum, Jinan, China

2006 Ten Chinese Avant-garde Photographers, Asia Art Center, Beijing, China
Photography of Gao Brothers, Matteo Basile and Raimondo Galeano, il Ponte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy
MissMao, Black Projects, London, UK
Between Art and Architecture, 798 Avant Gallery, New York, USA
Beijing-Soldiers at the Gates, Factory 798 Dashanzi Art District, Beijing, China
The First Annual Exhibition Of Chinese Contemporary Art, China Century Altar, Beijing, China
My Space, Your Space, Walsh Gallery, Chicago, USA
Brothers, Xin Dong Chen Space For Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
Ruins, Inova Art Center, Peckschool of Art, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA
Field of Vlision: Beijing, Beijing New Art Projects, Beijing, China
Post Electronic Image, MUSTBE Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China
5×7 Frame Decide the Attitude, Exhibition in Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China
Photographing China, The circumvallation site of Ming Dynasty, Beijing, China
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, USA

2005 The Second Reality: Photographs From China, Piazza of Berlaymont building, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium
Field of VIision: Extremes, The Institute For New Media, Frankfurt, Germany
The Gesture. Visual Library in progress, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece
Tian An Men - Tian An Men – Gate to Heaven, Foam Photography Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
A utopia of the visible: 13 Outstanding Art Photographers In China, Beijing New Art Projects, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
Placed in China, Walsh Gallery, Chicago, USA
The Flower in th Ruin: Contemporary Image Exhibition, Niu Fang Depot, Macau
Unlimit: Gao Brothers, Huang Yan & Zhang Tiemei’s Computerized Photography, Beijing New Art Projects, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
The City in 360 Degrees: French and Chinese Photographers in China, Beijing New Art Projects, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
China Avant-Garde: Contemporary Chinese Art, Arena, Santa Monica, USA
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
China Avant-Garde: Contemporary Chinese Art, Arena, Santa Monica, USA
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, USA 
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, Museum of Contemporary Art and The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, USA
Start To Fly: He Xiangning Art Museum OCAT Contemporary art Collection, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Vehicle and Mirror Image, Beijing New Art Projects, Beijing, China
Forge The Fable, Must Be Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China
Scratch-or China-Singapore Digital Image Art Exhibition, Beijing New Art Projects, 798 Art District, Beijing, China
2005 Pingyao International Photograpy Exhibition, Pingyao, China

2004 Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, International Center of Photography and Asia Society, New York, USA
Tiananmen, Chinese Eyes Gallery, Paris, France
Design the marble – 40 international artists in Carrara, Carrara, Italy

2003 The 2nd International Photo Festival of Rome, L'Officina, Rome, Italy
Chinese Art Today, China Century Altar, Beijing, China
Soho Contemporary Art Exhibition, Soho Street, Beijing, China
Bare Androgyny - A group show of Contemporary Art, 798 Art Community, Beijing, China

2002 The First Triennial Of Chinese Arts, Guangzhou Art Museum, China
Limits of Bodies, Shangrila, Beijing, China
2002 Pingyao International Photograpy Exhibition, Pingyao, China

2001 The 5th Los Angeles International Biennale, Bergamot Station Arts Center, Los Angeles, USA
The First Tirana Biennale, National Gallery & Chinese Pavilion, Albania
Nice International Photography Festival: Chinese Album, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Nice, France
Mao Y'a Pas Photo, the Espace d' Art Contemporain of La Rochelle, Paris, France
Rotate 360 - Chinese Plan Art Exhibition, Paragold Int'I Art Centre, Shanghai, China

2000 China Avant-garde Artists Documents, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Portraits, Figures, Couples and Groups from the MCAF collection, Bizart, Shanghai, China
Family? ContemporaryArt Project, Yuexing International Furniture Center, Shanghai, China
Man and Animal, performance show, Beijing, China

1999 The 2nd Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Sculpture, Shenzhen, China
The Documentary Exhibition of World Chinese Installation Art, Hongkong Art Commune, Hongkong
The Picture and Writing Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Artists, Gallery of Nanjing Teachers University, China
Out Of Control, Design Art Museum, Beijing, China

1996 The Documentary Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art, Chengdu, China
International Fax Art Exhibition, Shanghai, China

1992 Guangzhou Biennale, Guangzhou, China

1989 China Avant-Garde, China National Art Museum, Beijing, China

1985 Shandong Modern Art Exhibition, Jinan, China