Yijun Liao

Pixy Liao (Yijun Liao)
"The Woman Who Clicks The Shutter, 2018"
Born
Shanghai, China
EducationUniversity of Memphis
Known forPhotography, art
Notable workExperimental Relationship
AwardsNYFA Fellowship in photography, Santo Foundation Individual Artist Awards, Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival Madame Figaro Women Photographers Award, Enfoco New Works Awards Fellowship, LensCulture Exposure Awards, etc

Yijun Liao, also known as Pixy Liao, is a Chinese American photographer based in Tokyo.[1]

Biography

Liao was born in Shanghai. She received an MFA in photography from the University of Memphis in 2008.[2] She currently lives and works in Tokyo, Japan.[3]

She has exhibited her work internationally at venues such as the Art Institute of Chicago, Fotografiska, Rencontres d'Arles, the Asia Society, the National Gallery of Australia, and M+ Museum.

She is mostly known for her series Experimental Relationship. The series depicts her with her younger Japanese partner and collaborator, Takahiro Morooka (nicknamed Moro). The elaborate photography depicted challenges gender norms in regards to media and sexual expression. Her photography attempts to change the way society sees nudity and media through the lens of a whole new perspective.[4][5]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

  • 2008 Experimental Relationship, Adam Shaw Studio, Memphis, TN
  • 2011 Memphis, Tennessee, Chinese American Art Council, New York City
  • 2013 The Second Story of Two Stories, Kips Gallery, Seoul, Korea
  • 2013 Let's Make Love, the Camera Club of New York, New York City[6]
  • 2015 Experimental Relationship, Circuitous Succession Gallery, Memphis, TN[7]
  • 2016 Some Words are just between Us, curated by Sophia Cai, First Draft Gallery, Sydney, Austra[8][9][10]
  • 2016 Venus As A Boy, LEO XU Projects, Shanghai, China[11][12][13]
  • 2017 Lady and Gentleman, Galleri Vasli Souza, Malmö, Sweden[14]
  • 2018 Pixy Liao, curated by Roussell, Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival, Xiamen, China[15]
  • 2019 Une Relation Expérimentale the Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France[16]
  • 2019 Experimental Relationship Fotografia Europea, Reggio Emilia, Italy[17]
  • 2019 Open Kimono Chambers Fine Art, New York City[18]
  • 2020 Experimental Relationship (for your eyes only, or maybe mine, too) curated by Henry Lu Centre A, Vancouver, Canada[19]
  • 2021 Your Gaze Belongs To Me curated by Holly Roussell, Fotografiska, New York[20]
  • 2021 Your Gaze Belongs To Me curated by Holly Roussell, Fotografiska, Stockholm
  • 2022 Your Gaze Belongs To Me curated by Holly Roussell, Fotografiska, Tallinn
  • 2022 Futari (Two Persons) curated by Mary Lee Hodgens, Light Work, Syracuse, NY[21]
  • 2023 Experimental Relationship, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, Australia[22]
  • 2024 Pixy Liao: Comfort Zone, Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong[23]
  • 2024 Between Us, curated by Sito Rozema, MORE Museum, Gorssel, Netherlands[24]
  • 2025 Pixy Liao: Relationship Material, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois[25]

Group exhibitions

  • 2015 Evidence, Format International Photography Festival, Derby, UK[26]
  • 2015 No Holds Barred—Young Contemporary Art from China, curated by Boyi Feng and Lars Jonnson, OPEN ART Biennial, Örebro, Sweden[27]
  • 2016 The Real Thing, Flowers Gallery, New York City[28][29][30]
  • 2016 WECHAT - A Dialogue in Contemporary Chinese Art, curated by Barbara Pollack, Asia Society Texas Center, Houston, TX[31][32]
  • 2016 Bagsim, chi K11 Art Museum in Shanghai, Shanghai, China[33]
  • 2016 "When We Become Us", Capsule Shanghai[34]
  • 2017 NSFW: Female Gaze, Museum of Sex, New York[35]
  • 2019 Holly Mosses, curated by Nick Yu, Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong[36]
  • 2020 The Body Electric, curated by Dr Shaune Lakin, National Gallery of Australia, Sydney
  • 2020 Home Sweet Home, curated by Julia Reichelt, Kunstforum der TU Darmstadt[37]
  • 2022 I have not loved (enough or worked), curated by Rachel Cieśla, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia [38]
  • 2022 I LOVED YOU, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia *2022 Unmasking Masculinity for the 21st Century, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Michigan *2022 Mirror Image: A Transformation of Chinese Identity, curated by Barbara Pollack with Han Hongzheng, Asia Society, New York *2022 CHOSEN FAMILY – LESS ALONE TOGETHER, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
  • 2023 FAMILY (OF CHOICE). THOSE WHO WE ARE, Kunstmuseum Ravensburg, Germany *2023 Personal: A New Form of Documentary Photography, curated by Karen Smith, Shanghai Center of Photography, Shanghai, China
  • 2024 Shanghai: Capital of Photography 1910s - 2020s, curated by Guzheng, Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China *2024 Love is Louder, Bozar, Brussels, Belgium *2024 Inside Views – Contemporary Photography from China, WestLicht Photography Museum, Vienna, Austria
  • 2025 Tender Comrades, White Rabbit, Sydney, Australia *2025 Picasso for Asia—A Conversation, M+ Museum, Hong Kong[39] *2025 Facial Recognition, curated by Barbara Pollack, Jane Lombard Gallery, New York

Collections

Liao's work is held in the following public collections:

  • Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung, Germany
  • Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth * Franklin Furnace Archive, USA
  • Fundació Carmen & Lluís Bassat, Spain
  • Fundación MEDIANOCHE0, Spain
  • Fort Wayne Museum of Arts, Indiana
  • He Xiangning Art Museum, China
  • Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York
  • Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Michigan
  • Light Work, Syracuse, New York
  • M+ Museum, Hong Kong
  • Memphis International Airport, Tennessee
  • Møllersamlingen, Norway
  • Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
  • The Kinsey Institute, USA
  • The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado
  • The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Kingston, New York
  • Vontobel Art Collection, Switzerland
  • White Rabbit Collection, Australia
  • White Villa Collection, France

Publications

  • Experimental Relationship Vol.1 (2007-2017), published by Jiazazhi, 2018
  • Pimo Dictionary, published by Jiazazhi, 2018

References

  1. ^ "Pixy Liao - Blindspot Gallery". Blindspot Gallery. 22 July 2025. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  2. ^ "Pixy Liao | Light Work". 14 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Pixy Liao - Blindspot Gallery". Blindspot Gallery. 22 July 2025. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  4. ^ Annie Stevens. "Artist subverts gender norms with clever photography series". Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  5. ^ "Couple's Gender-Bending Photo Series Challenges Our View Of Traditional Relationships". HuffPost. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Let's Make Love | Baxter St at CCNY". www.baxterst.org. Retrieved 2025-09-19.
  7. ^ Mark Richens. "Pixy Liao explores gender roles in art, relationships in "Experimental Relationship" at Circuitous". Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  8. ^ Sophia Cai. "Some words are just between us". Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  9. ^ Lachlan Herd (9 August 2016). "The Hanging: Some Words Are Just Between Us by Pixy Liao". Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  10. ^ Kathleen Linn (11 August 2016). "Location, The Female Gaze and the Warmth of the Internet". Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  11. ^ Arthur Solway. "Pixy Liao at Leo Xu Projects" (PDF). Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  12. ^ Jiahuan Li. "Yijun Liao, Venus As A Boy". Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  13. ^ Wenqian. "Artist Yijun Liao's first solo show in her hometown". Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  14. ^ Ashleigh Kane. "See men and women exchange roles of sex and power in China". Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  15. ^ "Pixy Liao - Experimental Relationship". Jimei x Arles International Photography Festival. Archived from the original on 2019-10-12. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  16. ^ Anglès, Daphné (23 July 2019). "6 Photographers to Look Out For at the Arles Festival By Daphné Anglès". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  17. ^ "Fotografia Europea : Pixy Liao". www.loeildelaphotographie.com. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  18. ^ "Pixy Liao: Open Kimono - Exhibitions - Chambers Fine Art". www.chambersfineart.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  19. ^ "Pixy Liao's Radical Intimacy: "Experimental Relationship (For Your Eyes Only, Or Maybe Mine, Too)"". Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  20. ^ "Pixy Liao, Your Gaze Belongs to Me @Fotografiska". Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Futari exhibit serves as mirror into 16-year artistic relationship". February 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  22. ^ "Pixy Liao's cheeky photo series Experimental Relationship flips the artist-muse dynamic". Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  23. ^ "Pixy Liao: Comfort Zone". Blindspot Gallery. Retrieved 2025-09-19.
  24. ^ "Pixy Liao's solo exhibition "Between Us" at MORE Museum, Netherlands". Blindspot Gallery. 22 September 2024. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  25. ^ "Pixy Liao: Relationship Material". The Art Institute of Chicago. 2025-07-26. Retrieved 2025-09-19.
  26. ^ "Derby stages top international photographic festival, Format 15". Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  27. ^ Boyi Feng. "Pixy Yijun Liao". Archived from the original on 2019-12-29. Retrieved 2016-09-05.
  28. ^ Lara Atallah. "The Real Thing". Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  29. ^ "Juxtapoz: "The Real Thing" @ Flowers Galery". Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  30. ^ Rebecca Robertson. "PDN: Constructing and Deconstructing Romance". Archived from the original on 11 July 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  31. ^ Nikki Tripp. "Chinese Artist Challenges Gender Identities through 'Experimental Relationship'". Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  32. ^ Cindy Lisica. "We Chat: A Dialogue in Contemporary Chinese Art". Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  33. ^ Gary Zhexi Zhang (16 August 2016). "Critic's Guide: Shanghai". Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  34. ^ "When We Become Us". Capsule Shanghai.
  35. ^ Sarah Cascone (10 June 2017). "The Art of NSFW? See Provocative Works of Feminist Erotica From the Museum of Sex". Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  36. ^ Kaitlin Chan. "Holy Mosses". Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  37. ^ "Trautes Heim". 2020-09-01.
  38. ^ "Exhibition review: I have not loved (enough or worked)". 2022-12-12.
  39. ^ "Sin Wai Kin's commission work and Pixy Liao's work in M+ exhibition "The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Picasso for Asia"". Blindspot Gallery. 14 March 2025. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
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