Born
1977 Born in Jiangsu, China
Artists
Lu Xinjian (b. 1977, Jiangsu, China) is a contemporary artist whose practice bridges design, technology, and abstraction. Trained in computer graphic design at Nanjing Arts Institute and later in interactive media at Design Academy Eindhoven and the Frank Mohr Institute in the Netherlands, Lu developed a visual language rooted in precision, repetition, and the interplay of line, color, and form. His design background remains foundational, shaping the clarity and rigor of his artistic expression.
His breakthrough came with the City DNA series, inspired by bird’s-eye views from Google Earth. These works distill the urban fabric of cities worldwide into intricate networks of lines and patterns, simultaneously simple in form and dense with cultural, political, and historical resonance. Lu has since expanded his practice into series such as Invisible Poems, City Stream, Constellation, Reflections, and Illumination, each exploring how abstract systems can embody memory, rhythm, and collective experience. By compressing complex landscapes into seemingly minimal compositions, his works balance rational structure with poetic intuition.
Lu’s paintings and projects have been exhibited internationally, including in China, Europe, and the United States, and his works are collected by institutions such as the Powerlong Museum (China), White Rabbit Collection (Australia), EICAS Museum (The Netherlands), DSL Collection (France), and the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art in Manchester (UK), as well as major corporate collections including LVMH, Carlsberg, and Rolls Royce. He currently lives and works in Shanghai.
1977 Born in Jiangsu, China 2006 2005 2000 2023 2022 2021 2020 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2012 2011 2010 2024 2019 2018 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2022 2020 2018 2014 2013 2011 2010 Power Long Museum (China)
Reflections/ Jiangnan Watertown No.14
Born
Education
MFA, Interactive Media and Environments at the Frank Mohr Institute, Hanze University, The Netherlands
IM Postgraduate Department, Design Academy Eindhoven, The Netherlands
BA, Computer Graphic Design Department, Nanjing Arts Institute, Nanjing, ChinaSolo Exhibitions
Illuminations, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China
CITY DNA, CAMPIS, Assen, the Netherlands
Lu Xinjian – City DNA, Feefan’s Art, Beijing, China
Lines Across Time and Space, ZiWU, Shanghai
The Eternal City, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
City DNA – Xinjian Lu, European Institute of Contemporary Art and Science, Zutphen, The Netherlands
Boogie Woogie, De Sarthe Gallery, Hongkong, China
Reflections, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China
Lu Xinjian: City DNA + Reflections, Fabien Fryns Fine Art, Marbella, Spain
Infinite Lines, de Sarthe Gallery, Beijing
City DNA / Jiang Nan, Matthew Liu Fine Arts, Shanghai
Constellation, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
City Stream, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
City DNA IV, Hua Gallery, London, UK
Lu Xinjian: Beautiful Encounters – Cities and Poems, 117 Contemporary Art Center, Ningbo, China
Wired Space, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
Invisible Poem II, F2 Gallery, Beijing
Invisible Poem, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
City DNA III, Fabien Fryns Fine Art, Los Angels
City DNA II, F2 Gallery, Beijing
City DNA, ART LABOR Gallery, ShanghaiGroup Exhibitions
Shanghai Calling, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China
Personal Structures, Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy
4²+1, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China
Paint the Web Pink, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
Eja-Xinjian, Beetsterzwaag, the Netherlands
NULNU, Annesas Appel, Lu Xinjian, Henk Peeters, Herman de Vries, Nieuw Dakota Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
THING-IN-ITSELF: The invisible Felling of Deprival, Art Museum of Nanjing Uniersity of the Arts, Nanjing, China
ARTifical Garden, World Financial Center, Shanghai
The Temporary, ARTicle Gallery, Birmingham, UK
I Love Shanghai, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
FILTER THE PUBLIC, SWFC, Shanghai
Distance and Dimension, Fernando Bordoni & Lu Xinjian, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
Re-animators, Meulensteen Gallery, New York, USA
The Year of Dragon, Chen Hangfeng & Lu Xinjian, Gallery Jones, Vancouver, Canada
High 5, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
Basic Forms by Stella Art Foundation, 2nd Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Russia
Resemblance & Difference, Daegu Art Center, KoreaArt Projects
Carlberg 175 Years, Flowing from Denmark to China
Post Opulence, Rolls-Royce, China
Noise-Cancelling by You, NIKE, Shanghai 101 House of Innovation, China
City / Neighbor, Adidas Originals, Shanghai
Expressions Of My City, Lane Crawford, Shanghai
Absolut Blank, Absolut Vodka, Shanghai
City DNA, Maison Pourcel by Jacques & Laurent Pourcel, ShanghaiImportant Collections
Anxin Trust (China)
Sheraton Shanghai Hongkou Hotel (China)
The White Rabbit Collection (Australia)
Sydney Rhodes Library (Australia)
The Municipality of Assen (The Netherlands)
EICAS Museum (The Netherlands)
Loens & Loeff (the Netherland)
DSL Collection (France)
LVMH (France)
The CFCCA in Manchester (UK)
Rolls Royce (UK)
LVMH (France)
Carlsberg (Denmark)
Swiss Re Management (Switzerland)
amongst numerous of excellent private collections across China and the world