Yi Zhou

Not to be confused with Zhou Yi.

Yi Zhou
周依
Yi Zhou in 2017
Born1978 (age 47–48)[1][2][3]
Shanghai, China[4]
Education
Known forMultimedia art and short films
Websiteyizhouinc.com

Yi Zhou (Chinese: 周依; pinyin: Zhōu Yī) (born 1978) is a Chinese film director, writer, producer and multimedia artist.

Early life

Yi Zhou was born in Shanghai in 1978. When she was nine years old, she moved to Rome. She studied at the American University of Paris where and later graduated from the London School of Economics.[4] After leaving university, she embarked on a career in Paris as an artist.[1]

Artistic career

Zhou's first major exhibit was for the Jérôme de Noirmont gallery in Paris in 2002.[4] She installed her sculpture and video projection work Paradise in the Piazza della Signoria and the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence in 2006.[4]

In 2008, the Comité Vendôme asked Zhou to create a public project for Place Vendôme. She created an artwork based on the symbolic meaning of the Vendôme Column that gives its name to the square. Zhou created two 8-meter-high columns, located on a diagonal axis with the Vendôme Column as the central point.[5] Each of the two new columns is composed of 1280 small towers.[6] The project was commissioned by art historian Diana Widmaier Picasso[7] and was presented at the World Expo in Shanghai.[8]

In 2010, Zhou relocated back to China and founded YiZhouStudio, a branded content and creative production company based in Shanghai and Hong Kong. She has been compared to Yoko Ono and Cindy Sherman by Vogue China as an active image-maker both in front of and behind the camera.[9] In 2011, Zhou was named art director of the Tudou video-charing website[3]. She also serves as an art and fashion advisory member at Sina.com, which owns Sina Weibo.

From 2010 to 2011, Zhou was brand ambassador for Clarins, which also sponsored her solo show at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011. Since 2012, she has collaborated with the Italian luxury eyewear brand Persol, as well as the luxury brands Hogan, Pringle of Scotland,[10] and Chanel.

In 2011, her artwork DVF 2011 premiered in Beijing at Pace Gallery, commissioned by Diane von Fürstenberg for her exhibition Journey of a Dress. Instead of painting or photographing von Fürstenberg for her portrait, she created a video with music by composer Ennio Morricone, as a moving 3D portrait depicting her subject as an iconic figure from whose mouth other icons spring.[11]

As a Chinese social media ambassador,[12] Yi Zhou also developed a series of online portraits of key international players from the movie, fashion and art worlds, posted on Tudou.com and Weibo.com. The project introduced the celebrities to Chinese Twitter users, and showcased Zhou's approach to her work as a multimedia artist through portraits created for social media only.[13] In September 2011, Zhou created a short film featuring herself and Nicola Formichetti, showing the work of emerging Chinese fashion designers.[14]

In 2013, she worked with the French couture jewelry house Gripoix, designing their first artist collection, Pineapple's Secret.[15] In the same year, her animations inspired a clothing collection by the hip French brand Each x Other,[16] and she was hired by Iceberg to do a 360-degree clothing capsule collection.[17] Also in 2013, she collaborated with singer Bryan Ferry[18] for an animated work that premiered at her solo exhibition at the Vladivostok Biennale, which also was shown in 2014-2015 as part of a solo exhibition at Le Cube in Paris.[19]

Taking a break from art to devote to entrepreneurial and entertainment projects, her next and most recent solo exhibition was in November 2016 at Macro Museum in Rome.[20] In 2019, Yi Zhou launched a fashion and lifestyle brand, Global Intuition.[21][22] Since late 2021, Zhou has focused on NFT creations and her feature film debut.[23][24]

In 2024, Yi Zhou released her first documentary feature, In Between Stars and Scars: Masters of Cinema. The film features writer-director Cameron Crowe, cinematographers Robert Richardson and Vittorio Storaro, and production designer Dante Ferretti.[25]

In 2024 her Los Angeles-based Into the Sun Entertainment entered into a film production and restoration joint venture with Italy's Augustus Group, called Colors of the Sun Ventures.[26] Yi Zhou was represented by Mayhem Entertainment of Los Angeles as of 2018.[27]

Philanthropy

Zhou has also actively participated to philanthropic works such as: UN World Climate Change in South Africa[28] UNDP rio+!,[29] for Unesco Marine heritage world and Rush Philanthropics auction in 2015,[30] and most recently for Natalia Vodianova’s Naked Heart Foundation by participating with an artwork commissioned by Etam.[31]

In 2022 in collaboration with the United Nations Zhou has launched a campaign to promote peace.[32]

Speaking engagements and collaborations

Zhou has been selected by the Sundance Film Festival on three consecutive occasions.[33]

She has also given public speeches at TEDx Paris Salon,[34] Tedx 798[35] and LVMH labour day[36] and Financial Times Luxury Talks.[37]

References

  1. ^ a b Beaudoin, Anne-Cécile (28 March 2011). "Yi Zhou: Shanghai surprise" (in French). Paris Match. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  2. ^ "Yi Zhou — À propos". Slash Paris. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  3. ^ a b Zhang, Nancy. "Zhou Yi: China's leading video artist comes home | CNN Travel". Retrieved 20 December 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  4. ^ a b c d Barbieri, Claudia (1 December 2010). "The Frenetic World of Yi Zhou". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2016. In the past year alone Ms. Zhou, 32, has been invited to show her work at venues including the Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City, the 20 Hoxton Square gallery in London, the Shanghai Biennale and Contrasts Gallery. [...] The Shanghai-born daughter of a successful Chinese businessman, Ms. Zhou was raised from the age of 9 in Rome. She was educated both in London, where she studied economics and political science at the London School of Economics, and in Paris at the American University. Now she lives between her Paris apartment on the Rue de Lille and a Shanghai pied-à-terre in the old French Concession area of the city.
  5. ^ "Sculpture place Vendome Paris Yi Zhou 1280 Tower". 2009.
  6. ^ Arte, Rai. "I mondi surreali di Yi Zhou". Il portale di RAI Cultura dedicato all'arte e al design. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  7. ^ WWD Staff (30 November 2016). "W Magazine and YSL Celebrate 'Desire' With Art World". WWD. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  8. ^ "TV5 Monde, Yi Zhou Interview, November 1st Video by Yi Zhou on Myspace". Myspace. 3 November 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  9. ^ "Studios La multi visione di Yi Zhou che mixa culture, tecniche, poetiche".
  10. ^ Au, Desiree (1 December 2014). "In Shanghai, Yi Zhou's Multitasking Produces Rewards". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 26 January 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Diane Von Furstenberg's Dispatch From China". Vogue. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  12. ^ "Yi Zhou – Les réseaux sociaux en Chine | TEDxParis". TEDxParis. 27 September 2014. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  13. ^ "周依制作"名人肖像视频"之十三：邓文迪_土豆_高清视频在线观看". www.tudou.com. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  14. ^ Petty, Felix (19 January 2015). "speaking to multi-disciplinary chinese art star yi zhou". i-D. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  15. ^ "Fruit Forward: Artist Yi Zhou's Nature-Inspired Jewelry Collaboration with Gripoix". Vogue.com. September 2012. Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  16. ^ "Each x Other Screens Short Film at Cannes". WWD. 24 May 2013.
  17. ^ "Designer rebel with applause|Life|chinadaily.com.cn". usa.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  18. ^ "This Week In Pictures - 07/10/2013". British Vogue. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  19. ^ "LE CUBE - Yi Zhou / Etrange poésie". Le Site du Cube. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  20. ^ Petty, Felix (21 October 2016). "chinese multimedia artist yi zhou discusses her roman adventure". 1-D.
  21. ^ "Intervista a Yi Zhou, fondatrice di Global Intuition". Vogue. 1 October 2019.
  22. ^ Roche, Eddie (18 July 2019). "YiZhou, Founder of Global Intuition, Is Ready To Take Over the Fashion World".
  23. ^ "Chinese Multimedia Artist Yi Zhou Set to Shoot Sci-Fi 'Stars and Scars' in Italy (EXCLUSIVE)". 9 December 2020.
  24. ^ "Chinese Filmmaker Yi Zhou Teams with Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia for Biopic of His Grandmother, the Last Queen of Italy". 15 April 2021.
  25. ^ In Between Stars and Scars: Masters of Cinema
  26. ^ "Yi Zhou's Into the Sun Entertainment & Italy's Augustus Group Join Forces On Colors of the Sun Ventures". Deadline. 14 May 2024.
  27. ^ Sun, Rebecca (10 September 2018). "Rep Sheet Roundup: WME's Jennifer Rudolph Walsh Joins SeeHer Advisory Board". Hollywood Reporter.
  28. ^ "月光-Clair de Lune by 周依Yi Zhou_土豆_高清视频在线观看". www.tudou.com. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  29. ^ "Yi Zhou's Seven Critical Issues". Le Figaro.fr. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  30. ^ "TheMakerMagazine". www.themakermagazine.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  31. ^ "Artist Yi Zhou Opens Exhibition in Rome - Hashtag Legend". hashtaglegend.com. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  32. ^ "Filmmaker Yi Zhou to Sell 4 Short Films as NFTS to Raise Money for Ukraine". 4 March 2022.
  33. ^ Holgate, Mark. "Yi Zhou Goes From Shanghai to London to Sundance, with a 3-D Pharrell". Vogue. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  34. ^ "Yi Zhou – Les réseaux sociaux en Chine | TEDxParis". TEDxParis. 27 September 2014. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  35. ^ "Watch "Yi Zhou at TEDxFactory798" Video at TEDxTalks". TEDxTalks. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  36. ^ "Signature of Women's Empowerment Principles - LVMH". LVMH. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  37. ^ "2014 financial times business of luxury summit, mexico city". designboom | architecture & design magazine. 29 April 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2016.

Further reading

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