VANCOUVER, BC.- Becoming: The Art of Gu Xiong traces the evolution of Gu Xiong’s artistic practice and the major influences that defined it. Gu has exhibited in Canada, China, Italy and the USA in more than 40 solo shows and three public art commissions, but Becoming is the most comprehensive display of his work. Highlighting landmark pieces from his 50-year career, the exhibition showcases the pivotal moments that shaped his creative vision—serving as a roadmap of his artistic evolution from the 1970s to the present day and beyond.
Born in Chongqing, China and based in Vancouver, BC, Gu spent time as a labourer during the Cultural Revolution, faced challenges as a Canadian immigrant, built an academic career as a professor at UBC, and explored global migration—all the while committing to his artistic practice.
An internationally recognized multidisciplinary artist, Gu works across mediums, including painting, sculpture, photography, video, and site-specific installations. His work redefines how we understand migration, hybridity, and globalization. Highlights include Enclosures (1989-2026), an installation not seen since the 1989 China/Avant-Garde Exhibition; the Crushed Cans painting and silkscreen print series (1991-93), an embodiment of Gu’s experience with culture shock; and Yellow Cargo (2016-26) a large-scale installation that explores globalization through the lens of migrant workers in Canada.
“Personal memory is the most authentic form of history. Within our everyday experiences and through countless repetitions, the vitality and hope of life emerge. Creating this exhibition has been a journey to retrace my artistic roots and the flow of my artistic development through migration and global changes—like a river finding its way through treacherous landscapes. These renewed reflections shaped the spaces and themes of this exhibition, creating new meaning through past work.” —Gu Xiong, 2026
The exhibition encompasses three gallery spaces. The first covers his start as an artist in China, his discovery of the Group of Seven and his role in China’s Avant-Garde movement. The second gallery is highly personal, chronicling the years Gu and his family navigated the boundaries between two cultures and when Gu filled manual labour roles—dishwasher, janitor and pizza chef—while continuing his creative practice in his basement home. In the third space, the artist looks beyond personal experiences towards the global movement of migrants.
