Xi Jianjun was born in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China, in 1962 and studied at the Central Academy of Art and Design in Beijing, before founding Concept 21 in 1985 to innovate performance art in China. Moving to England in 1987 to further his studies, he gained an MA from Goldsmiths College. With Cai Yuan, Xi formed the duo Mad For Real in 1999, challenging art norms through provocative performances that question societal structures and the essence of art.
Artist Xi Jianjun was born in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China, in 1962. He studied at the Central Academy of Art and Design, Beijing, graduating in 1986. The previous year, in 1985, he founded Concept 21, a pioneering initiative aimed at developing performance art in China. In 1987, Xi moved to England to continue his studies, earning an MA in Art from Goldsmiths College, University of London, in 1995. He was also artist-in -residence Cité International des Artes, Paris, in 1992. Xi’s collaboration with Cai Yuan, a Chinese artist also living in England, led to the formation of the Mad For Real duo in 1999, gaining fame for provocative performances that question art institutions and societal norms. Their work, blending humour with critical insight, challenges power dynamics, inviting both critique and participation. Rooted in the tradition of radical art movements and influenced by situationist philosophy, their collaborative projects underscore art's potential to confront and reshape societal expectations.
In November 1999, Cai and Xi debuted as Mad For Real with a performance at Fordham Gallery, in London's East End. Their act, Soya Sauce Ketchup Fight transformed the whole gallery into a dynamic canvas, where the artists, armed with bottles of soya sauce, ketchup, and Coca-Cola, engaged in a spirited exchange that blurred the lines between playful confrontation and art. The performance unfolded in a small space with a glass front, allowing onlookers to witness the transformation of white walls into vivid splashes of colour and the floor into a pool of mixed liquids, suggesting the aftermath of violence. This performance was subsequently commissioned for the Liverpool Biennial in 2002. Other notable performances have included the controversial Two Artists Jump on Tracey Emin’s Bed at the Tate Gallery (1999), and Two Artists Piss on Duchamp's Urinal at Tate Modern (2000). The former unfolded against the backdrop of Emin's installation My Bed which was part of her nomination for the Turner Prize. Emin's exhibit showcased a dishevelled bed surrounded by the detritus of her life, including empty vodka bottles and used tissues, symbolising a raw and unfiltered glimpse into her personal and emotional landscape. Expanding upon Emin's theme of personal revelation, Xi and Cai appeared naked from the waist up, with provocative words such as ‘Communism’, ‘Anti-Stuckism’, ‘Optimism’, and ‘Freedom’ inscribed on their bodies in both English and Chinese. Their performance was not just an act of physical intrusion, but a profound statement on the nature of art itself. By leaping into Emin's bed, they sought to ‘push the idea further’ and challenge the audience to reconsider their perceptions of what constitutes good or bad art (cited in Wallace 1999). The duo’s critique extended beyond Emin’s work to the institutional setting that housed it. They argued that by placing such a personal and experiential piece in a museum, the curators were inadvertently stripping the work of its essence. A soiled bed, emblematic of human experience —corporeality, illness, sex, and vulnerability—becomes a mere spectacle once it is sanitised and placed, untouchably, behind museum barriers. Through their unauthorised performance, Xi and Cai highlighted the disconnect between art's lived experience and its institutional presentation, urging a re-evaluation of how art is consumed and understood within the formal confines of the art world. This performance was emblematic of Xi and Cai’s broader mission to disrupt the status quo of the art world, using their bodies and actions as mediums to provoke thought, challenge institutional norms, push the boundaries of viewer engagement, and to question the very definition of art itself.
Xi’s Tongtian Tower – Babylonian (2017–18) was a walk-in installation that interpreted the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, in which God punishes humanity for their hubris in attempting to build a tower to the heavens, by confusing their shared language. Xi’s Babylonian contemporised this theme, symbolising the blending of Eastern and Western cultural elements as a reflection of our globalised world. The piece suggested that the tower, though unfinished, represented the spirit of those courageous individuals who, through their visions and actions, dare to shape the future of humanity. Parliament Building (2017–18) featured a wooden reproduction of the United States Capitol dome, presented as if it had been overthrown, lying on the ground. This work offered a commentary on the contentious debates surrounding the future of humanity, touching upon themes of eternity versus transience, order versus chaos, and peace versus violence, referencing feelings of insecurity, hopelessness, and defiance among people in the face of ongoing disputes. Xi received the prestigious Jackson Pollock Art Prize in 2006 and the China Phoenix Art Prize in 2016. He has exhibited nationally at venues including the Hayward Gallery, London ( Cities on the Move , 1999); Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool (2010); Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and Asia House, London (both 2013); Tate Modern (2015), and internationally. His work is not currently represented in UK public collections.