ABOUT
River Yuhao Cao 曹宇豪 (b. 1997, China) is a moving image and performance artist based in London.
River’s works arise from a mourning approach, rebuilding landscape from his early memories and discovering the perspective of revenant are the process of mourning in his practice. River is interested in how lamentation as a translation strategy interprets the fluidity of the subject. River’s recent work draws from the performative nature of mourning in regional Chinese culture and queerness, he has always been trying to find a way to relieve his inner sense of loss, which is rooted in a desire for tranquility and fantasy. A nightfall in a small town by the river in southern China, has always been an attractive picture in his mind. River’s videos and performances explore personal memories, identity, and revenants, he tries to reveal a reimagined melancholy by employing a silent narrative and exploring untouched landscapes, in response to the question of whether mourning can be a positive work. Using mourning as a method, his work aims to create self-actualised spaces to enable the audience to rethink grief, queerness.
River received the “Film London FLAMIN Fellowship 2023-24”, nominated for the “LOEWE FOUNDATION / Studio Voltaire Award” (2023), featured in “DAZED 100” with Queer Direct (2022). His work has been included in the “Selected 11” by Film London Jarman Awards and Video Club (2021), and “London Grads Now.21” at Saatchi Gallery (2021).
EDUCATION
2019 – 2021, MA, Royal College of Art, UK
2015 – 2019, BA, Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, CHN
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND SCREENINGS
2024 ALUM NIGHT, Lethaby Gallery, London, UK
2024 I WILL HAUNT YOU FOREVER: Queer Ghosts Across Time, Museum of the Home, London, UK
2023 FLUID COSMOLOGIES, Forma HQ, London, UK
2023 UNDER BLUE SHADE, Roman Road Gallery, London, UK
2023 TRANS – FORMING TRANS – MISSIONS, Spanners Club London / Elevator Shanghai, UK / CHN
2022 DIASPORAS NOW, Reference Point, 180 The Strand, London, UK
2022 DISTURBANCE, Ugly Duck, London, UK
2022 MARTYROLOGY, Biblioteka, London, UK
2022 FRINGE FILM FESTIVAL, Rich Mix, London, UK
2022 REMEMBERING PLACE, ESEA Contemporary (Previously called: Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art), Manchester, UK
2022 RIVER CAO Solo Show, Eastcheap Projects, Letchworth Garden City, UK
2022 QUEER DIRECT, Sadie Coles HQ, London, UK
2022 GGI, The Yard Theatre, London UK
2021 LONDON GRADS NOW.21, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2021 SELECTED 11 Screening tour, Nottingham Contemporary / Spike Island / Phoenix Cinema and Arts Centre / Video Club / Film London / Fabrica Gallery, Nottingham / Bristol / Leicester / London / Brighton, UK
2021 RCA DEGREE SHOW, Cromwell Place, London, UK
2021 IMMUNITY GEOGRAPHY, Joy Museum, Beijing, CHN
2021 LANDSCAPE AND VIEWING, Himalayas Museum, Shanghai, CHN
2021 EVERYTHING FOREVER, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2020 302_REDIRECT, Institute of Contemporary Art London (ICA), London, UK
2020 ART & DESIGN EDUCATION FUTURE LAB, West Bund Art Center, Shanghai, CHN
2020 TRANSFER IDENTITY, SOUL, AND TIME, No Space Gallery, Beijing, CHN
2020 MADE IN MIND, SERIES II Experimental Video Screening, Gallery Mcube, Kathmandu, NP
2020 NO THEATRE screening tour, Kongti Lab, Shenzhen, CHN
2019 BEATA ALBUM, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, GER
2019 ANTI-PROM, Instinctsca, Bussey Building, London, UK
2019 FLUTTERING OLIVE BRANCH, Greek Embassy, Beijing, CHN
RESIDENCIES AND AWARDS
2024 Awarded, Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants, UK
2024 Artist Residency, Forma HQ, London, UK
2023 Awardee, The FLAMIN Fellowship 2023 – 2024, Film London, UK
2023 Nominated, LOEWE FOUNDATION / Studio Voltaire Award, Studio Voltaire, UK
2022 Artist Residency: Disturbance – Ugly Duck, UK
2022 Selected, DAZED 100, DAZED Digital.
2022 Artist Residency: Letchworth Garden City – Eastcheap Projects, UK
2021 Selected, 11th Selected, Film London FLMAIN / Video Club, UK
2021 Selected, London Grads Now.21, Saatchi Gallery, UK
2019 Awardee, Academy Award, Tianjin Academy of Fine Art, CHN
TALKS & PRESENTATIONS
2023 Lecture: Mourning, After Mourning, Tianjin Academy of fine Arts, CHN
2023 Artist Talk: River Cao, Circularrom Artist Talk, CHN
2022 Artist Talk: Remembering Place, ESEA Contemporary (Previously called: Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art), Manchester, UK
2022 Artist Talk: River is My Hometown – Mourning and Moving Image, Goldsmiths CCA, London, UK
2021 Lecture: Mourning and Moving Image, Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, Tianjin, CHN
2021 Panel Talk: Selected 11 hosted by lan Haydn Smith, Spike Island, Bristol, UK
2021 State of the Art Symposium, Royal College of Art, London, UK