Born in Wulagai, Inner Mongolia in 1984, the son of high school teachers, Zong Ning did not experience the newly wealthy and globalised world of urban China until he went to study at Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Arts. He told White Rabbit that once he became part of this ‘beautiful world’, he realised ‘it’s not as beautiful as I’ve always imagined – it’s mysterious and scary, much worse than the figures you see in my work.’ Zong graduated from the CAFA Department of Photography in 2017 and has since exhibited his work in several group exhibitions in China, including ‘Unlived by What is Seen’ at Pace Gallery. In 2015 he won the Gold Award at The First Edition of Changjiang International Photography＆Video Biennale. Zong is a student of Daoist and Buddhist philosophy and hopes to point out in his defiantly low-fi and handmade works that spiritual values “are worth much more than sports cars or apartments”. He lives and works in Beijing.

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 Zong Ning in the collection database