Zhou Tiehai

Who is Zhou Tiehai?

Zhou Tiehai is a contemporary Chinese artist whose art work attempts to satirize much of modern Chinese art. Zhou does not paint his own works, though he earned an arts degree from the School of Fine Arts at Shanghai University in 1989. A typical process for Zhou Tiehai is to conceptualize a work, realize it on the computer, then rely upon the help of assistants to physically create it. He is mostly known for appropriating the Camel advertising character that he calls Joe Camel and making large paintings that reference famous western motifs from art history.

Even though Zhou's work is exhibited widely in China and abroad, he does not produce any new work. He is currently director of the Minsheng Art Museum in Shanghai.