Born in Chengdu in 1970, and trained at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing, Jiao Xingtao would seem to have taken heed of American artist Robert Rauschenberg’s statement, that he worked ‘in the gap between art and life’. But whereas Rauschenberg used actual discarded objects in his ‘combine sculptures’, Jiao instead re-creates and monumentalises discarded everyday objects and turns waste into meticulously crafted sculptures. Whether his starting point is a crumpled chewing gum wrapper or a crushed box that once held a tube of toothpaste, these quotidian things are re-scaled to become monuments to our consumer age. Packaging and branding are ubiquitous across the globe, and no less so in China: Jiao says, ‘It is too much, too fast, full of confusion. We are not in control of our own destiny, and we are filled with temptation.’ We are surrounded by the colours and logos of multinational corporations everywhere, every day. Jiao Xingtao works with traditions of figurative sculpture to ask us to question our relationship to consumerism and the waste it generates. His work has been shown in significant solo and group exhibitions in Greater China, the UK and Europe. Jiao Xingtao lives and works in Chongqing, where he teaches at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.

The White Rabbit Collection is one of the world’s most extensive and significant collections of contemporary art from China. With a focus on works created since the year 2000, the Collection contains almost 3,000 works by over 750 artists and continues to expand. Note that when you click on the link below you will be forwarded to the White Rabbit Collection website.

Explore the work of Jiao Xingtao in the collection database