Since the early 2000s, SCAD deFINE ART honoree Cao Fei has produced forward-thinking work that acutely responds to and reflects on — in real time — shifts in our perception and experience of reality during periods of rapid globalization, urban development, and technological advancement. A pioneer of creating digital worlds, Cao Fei transforms two galleries at the SCAD Museum of Art into an immersive multimedia installation featuring live-action films, as well as virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality environments for visitors to explore. Blurring distinctions between the terrestrial and the cyber, the familiar and the futuristic, Cao Fei reveals how the spaces we inhabit shape our identities and social interactions, and ultimately redirect our search for meaning and purpose in life.
Cao Fei (b. 1978, Guangzhou, China; lives and works in Beijing) has presented solo exhibitions at venues including MAXXI National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome; UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing; Serpentine Galleries, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong; K21 Düsseldorf, Germany; MoMA PS1, New York; Secession, Vienna; Bonnefanten, Maastricht, the Netherlands; and Tate Modern, London. Her work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions and major biennials and triennials worldwide. In 2021, she was awarded the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize.
