About
Renee Yu Jin is an interdisciplinary researcher and multi-media artist. She is also currently a PhD candidate at the Visual & Cultural Studies program at the University of Rochester. Her artistic trajectory originated at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she completed a BFA in Sculpture with honors in 2018. Since then, she has been actively collaborating with filmmakers, curators, and educators in China to broaden her understanding of materials and engage in critical discourses on topics such as urbanization, gentrification, labor, and education. In 2022, she obtained an MFA from the distinguished Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing, where she had the privilege of immersing herself in a thriving local artistic community.
Her research and creative endeavors are situated at the intersection of several fields, including contemporary art, visual anthropology, anthropology of art, Asian studies, and critical pedagogy. Her doctoral study seeks to examine how the instability of urban villages can elucidate the intricate social identity of marginalized avant-garde artists, as well as the function that local manual laborers play in art production in China.
Jin’s artworks have shown in the United States and internationally and her personal and collaborative films have screened at Beijing BACA Art Center, the 40th Torino Film Festival, Dubai Film@, Buenos Aires International Film Festival, CPH: DOX*, among others. Jin’s academic research has been supported by the Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant and the Ferrari Global Scholar Award.
Jin is one of the editorial associates of the scholar-led, open-access publication, Limn. She is also on the editorial board for InVisible Culture: A Journal for Visual Culture (IVC).
A color photo of Renee holding a bouquet of artificial flowers in her mouth. Photo credit: Adrienne Hugh.
Full CV available upon request.
Contact
Selected Exhibitions
2025
Dirty Laundry, Hartnett Gallery, Rochester, New York
Waste Aesthetics, Frontispace Gallery, Rochester, New York
37 x 33 cm, Yuan Museum, Beijing, China
2024
I’m Rooted, but I Flow, Santo Hall, Beijing, China (solo)
2023
The 23rd China (Nan’an) Shuitou International Stone Expo, Quanzhou, China
Graphic Poems, EGG Gallery, Beijing, China
Stream 2023, Windham, Vermont
The Other, One Atelier, Beijing, China
Polyphonic Forms, Santo Hall, Beijing, China
2022
Sharp Edge (The Invitational Exhibition of CAFA Graduates), Meet You Museum, Shanghai, China
Loading…, CAFA Graduation Season, Online Exhibition
2021
The Knickknack Peddler, Guangzhou Contemporary Art Fair, Guangzhou, China
Insight & Vision Special Project: Pathway, Yinshanhu Art Meseum and UCCA Lab, Suzhou, China
Interspace, Block 14 CAFA, Beijing, China
Silver Ages, Aotu Space, Beijing, China
2020
Monk’s Love, BACA Art Center, Beijing, China (solo)
Masc., Coastal Contemporary Gallery, Newport, RI
2019
In-Between States, ACRE Projects, Chicago, IL
2018
Something Worth Stealing: RISD Sculpture Senior Final Show, 130 Point Street, Providence, RI
Perspective Shape the Face, 1 Sims Ave., Providence, RI (as artist and curator)
Watch the Arc, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence RI
We Thought of You, Gelman Gallery, Providence, RI
Sculpture Triennial Exhibition, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI
Graduates Art Fair Shenzhen China, Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center, Shenzhen, China
2017
Pure as a Seagull’s Belly, RISD Museum, Providence, RI
MESH, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts at Brown University, Providence, RI
RedGreen/BlueYellow, Space 369, Saint Paul, MN
Cenci, Memorial Hall Gallery, Providence, RI
Time. Space. Place: Global Thoughts and Practices at RISD, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI
Basta, Palazzo Cenci, Rome, Italy
Hic Jacet: Group Show, Castle of Sant’Eusanio Forconese, Castelvecchio, Italy
La Tiny Biennale è giunta alla 5°edizione, Temple University, Rome, Italy
Late Night Pundit, FRI-ENDS, Providence, RI
Permanent Parabasis, Gallery 99, Providence, RI
Awagami Print Expression 2016, Bumpodo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
+1/Year of the Rooster, The Clemento Soto Velez Cultural Center, New York, NY
Bibliography and Interview
Renee Yu Jin | The World is a Playground. Santo Hall. November 19, 2024.
Talk Recap | “Floating” and “Involution”—The Intuitive Transformation of Sculpture. CAFA ART INFO. November 14, 2024.
Jin Yu: A Floating Playground to Dissolve Involution. Artnet. November 09, 2024.
Young Artist Recommendation | Jin Yu: “Translating” Social Phenomena. ART ABSOLOTE. November 06, 2024.
Insight & Vision. Yinshanhu Art Museum. Suzhou, China. May 27, 2021.
MASC.: A Refreshingly Well-Rounded Look at Masculinity. By Emily Bass for Art New England. March 19, 2020.
MASC.: Exploring the Power Dynamics of Gender- Driven Domination. By Cathren Housley for Motif Magazine. March 4, 2020.
Overseas Artist Residency Series. Phoenix Art. Online. October 3, 2019.
Set on a Life in the Arts. By Lauren Maas. RISD. June 3, 2018.