Liao, Pixy

1979

Shanghai , China

Pixy Liao, was born in 1979 and raised in Shanghai, China.. She received her MFA in photography from the University of Memphis in 2008. She currently lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. Her work, although highly personal, is often witty and humorous. Liao uses her photographs, video and installation to call into question stereotypical contemporary concepts such as the nature of “the couple,” “the artist,” and the “female experience.”

Her elaborate photography often challenges gender norms and undermines patriarchal stereotypes in a heterosexual relationship in portrayal in media and sexual expression. Her photography attempts to change the way society sees nudity and media through the lens of a whole new perspective.

Liao is a recipient of NYFA Fellowship in photography, En Foco’s New Works Fellowship and LensCulture Exposure Awards. She has been awarded artist residencies at the University of Arts London, Pioneer Works, Light Work, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Center for Photography at Woodstock, and Camera Club of New York.

Liao’s photographs have been exhibited internationally, including Asia Society Houston, Texas; Museum of Sex, New York; Flower Gallery, New York; Metro Pictures, New York, USA; First Draft Gallery, Sydney, Australia; MORE Museum, Gorssel, Netherlands; He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen; Leo Xu Projects. Shanghai, China; and among many others.

Hidden Stories at Alisan Fine Arts New York in 2024 is the gallery’s first time working with the artist. Her works are on view at Picasso for Asia: A Conversation, M+, Hong Kong in 2025.

Biography

1979

Born in Shanghai, China

2008

Received an MFA in photography from the University of Memphis

2010

Artist Residency, Center for Photography at Woodstock

2012

Artist Residency, LMCC Workspace Residency Program

2013

Fellowship in photography, New York Foundation for the Arts Darkroom Residency, Camera Club of New York

2015

Artist Residency, Light Work

2016

Artist Residency, Pioneer Works

2018

Artist Residency, University of the Arts London in collaboration with NYFA

2019

Artist in residence, SVA RisoLAB, New York, USA

2023

Artist in residence, La Residencia, Deia, Mollorca, Spain

Present

Living and working in Tokyo, Japan

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2025

Pixy Liao: Relationship Material, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA

2024

Between Us, curated by Sito Rozema, MORE Museum, Gorssel, Netherlands
Opening, L21 Gallery, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Comfort Zone, Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong

2023

Experimental Relationship, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, Australia
Day Dream, Stieglitz 19, Antwerpen, Belgium
The Woman who Clicks the Shutter, ⅔ Galeria, Bucharest, Romania

2022

Piano Duet, L21 Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
Your Gaze Belongs to Me curated by Holly Roussell, Fotografiska, Tallinn, Estonia
Futari (Two Persons), curated by Mary Lee Hodgens, Light Work, Syracuse, New York, USA

2021

Your Gaze Belongs to Me, Fotografiska, Stockholm, Sweden; New York, USA

2020

Choose Your Own Adventure, SCOPE Hannover Biennial, Hannover, Germany
Experimental Relationship (for your eyes only, or maybe mine, too), curated by Henry Lu, Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Vancouver, Canada
Two Heads, Stieglitz 19, Antwerpen, Belgium

2019

Carry the Weight of You, Galleri Vasli Souza, Oslo, Norway
UNE RELATION EXPÉRIMENTALE, Les Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France
Experimental Relationship, Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland
Experimental Relationship, FOTOGRAFIA EUROPEA, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Open Kimono, Chambers Fine Art, New York, USA

2018

Pixy Liao: Experimental Relationship, Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival, Xiamen, China

2017

Lady and Gentleman, Galleri Vasli Souza, Malmö, Sweden

2016

Venus as a Boy, Leo Xu Projects, Shanghai, China
Some Words Are Just Between Us, First Draft Gallery, Sydney, Australia

2013

Let’s Make Love, Camera Club of New York, New York, USA

2011

Memphis, Tennessee, Chinese American Art Council, New York, USA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025

Picasso for Asia—A Conversation, M+ Museum, Hong Kong
Facial Recognition, curated by Barbara Pollack at Jane Lombard Gallery, New York, NY
Love, Maybe, Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung, Munich, Germany
Snake Pints, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China

2024

Shanghai: Capital of Photography 1910s - 2020s, curated by Guzheng, Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Love is Louder, Bozar, Brussels, Belgium
Hidden Stories, Alisan Fine Arts, New York, USA
Cartier’s Trinity 100 Journey Exhibition, West Bund Artistic Center, Shanghai, China
Redefine: Contemporary Portrait Photography, Fujifilm X-space, Shanghai, China
Inside Views – Contemporary Photography from China, WestLicht Photography Museum in cooperation with Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung, Vienna, Austria
We’re Home, Pace University Art Gallery, New York, USA
Awakening, Capsule Shanghai, Shanghai, China
WHEN WE BECOME US, Capsule Venice, Venice, Italy

2023

Each, Other, Griffith University Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia
X MUSEUM TRIENNIAL 2023: HOME IS WHERE THE HAUNT IS, X Museum, Beijing, China

Between Performance and Documentation: Contemporary Photography and Video from

China, Johnson Museum of Art, New York, USA
FAMILY (OF CHOICE). THOSE WHO WE ARE, Kunstmuseum Ravensburg, Germany
Personal: A New Form of Documentary Photography, curated by Karen Smith, Shanghai Center of Photography, Shanghai, China

2022

I have not loved (enough or worked), Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Unmasking Masculinity for the 21st Century, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Michigan, USA
I LOVED YOU, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Mirror Image: A Transformation of Chinese Identity, Asia Society, New York, USA
CHOSEN FAMILY – LESS ALONE TOGETHER, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
You can call it love, Photolux Festival, Lucca, Italy
Focus on Women Photographers, Foto Wien Festival, Vienna, Austria

2021

WIDE OPEN. INS OFFENE Contemporary Photography & Sculpture in Glass, Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung, Munich, Germany
Rediscovery: A Selection of Jimei x Arles Awards, Shanghai, China
This Mortal Coil, Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, Georgia, USA
WHAT A GENDERFUL WORLD, Wereldmuseum, Rotterdam, Netherlands
The Things I Tell You Will Not Be Wrong, Scope-Hannover Biennale, Hannover, Germany
Closer, Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong

2020

Propositions for Alternative Narratives, Photoworks Festival, Brighton, UK
Home Sweet Home, Darmstadt Tage Der Photographie, Darmstadt, Germany
China Reimagined, curated by He Yining and Ruben Lundgren, Breda Photo, The Netherlands
A Room of HER Own, How Museum, Shanghai, China
Collective Care: A House with Many Guests, M Woods Museum, Beijing, China
The Body Electric curated by Dr. Shaune Lakin, National Gallery of Australia, Sydney, Australia
RISO BAR, SMU Pollock Gallery, Dallas, USA

2019

Holy Mosses, Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong
PARIS PHOTO 2019, Blindspot Gallery, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Photography in Memphis, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, USA
WHAT A GENDERFUL WORLD, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The Kind Stranger, UNArt Center, Shanghai, China
Tender Touches, AMP Gallery, London, UK
Kinship, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, UK
Chinese Contemporary Photobook works: Visual Narrative in Paper and Beyond, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
Elegy: Five Desire Mechanisms of Nostalgia, A+ Contemporary, Shanghai, China

2018

San Gennaro 2018, Baxter Street Camera Club, New York, USA
The California Sunday Magazine Presents - At Home: In the American West, Aperture
Gallery, New York, USA
Monroe/Monroe, Shang Ba Art Gallery, Beijing, China
Be Strong and Do Not Betray Your Soul, Light Work, New York
MUSE MUSE, Czech Center New York, New York, USA
Disobedient Daughters, Metro Arts, Brisbane, Australia

2017

Socially Engaged, ACP Festival, Atlanta, USA
Discursive Selves, Westbeth Gallery, New York, USA
NSFW: FEMALE GAZE, Museum of Sex, New York, USA
Mallory/Wurtzburger: A Retrospective, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, USA

2016

EXPECTATION, SVA-NYC Art Platform, Shanghai, China
Out Frames, Museum of Modern Art in Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Bagsim, chi K11 Art Museum in Shanghai, Shanghai, China
WECHAT–A Dialogue in Contemporary Chinese Art, Asia Society Texas Center, Houston, USA

2015

No Holds Barred—Young Contemporary Art from China, curated by Boyi Feng and Lars Jonnson, OPEN ART Biennial, Örebro, Sweden

2014

Double Vision, curated by Boyi Feng, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China

2012

Span of Vision, VT Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
Song of Ordinary Madness, Running Horse Contemporary Art Space, Beirut, Lebanon
This Must Be the Place, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, USA

2011

Flash Forward, Magenta Foundation, Toronto, Canada

2010

Making the Leap: Crossing Borders, A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn, USA
Irrelevant: Local Emerging Asian Artists Who Don't Make Work About Being Asian, Arario Gallery, New York, USA

2009

Photography Now 2009, Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, USA

2008

Girl and Her Camera, Lianzhou Photo Festival, Lianzhou, China
4th Wall, 2008 China Pingyao International Photography Fest, Pingyao, China

Selected Awards

2018

Individual Artist Awards, The Santo Foundation
Madame Figaro Women Photographers Award, Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival
Jury’s Special Mention for Aperture/Paris Photo First PhotoBook Award

2014

2nd Prize winner, LensCulture Exposure Awards 2013

Collection

Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung, Germany
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Australia
Franklin Furnace Archive, USA
Fundació Carmen & Lluís Bassat, Spain
Fundación MEDIANOCHE0, Spain
Fort Wayne Museum of Arts, USA
He Xiangning Art Museum, China
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, USA
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, USA
Light Work, USA
M+, Hong Kong
Memphis International Airport's permanent collection, USA
Møllersamlingen (Møller collection), Norway
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
The Kinsey Institute, USA
The Center for Fine Art Photography, USA
The Center for Photography at Woodstock, USA
Vontobel Art Collection, Switzerland
White Rabbit Collection, Australia
White Villa Collection, France