Yesiyu Zhao

Yesiyu Zhao (b. 1991, Zhejiang Province, China) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. His paintings explore gender fluidity and the shifting nature of identity, juxtaposing motifs such as soldiers, high heels, body hair, and fishnet stockings, and incorporating a complex system of symbols and icons into each pictorial narrative. Drawing on his experience of migration and on American and Chinese histories, Zhao investigates the condition of being caught in between: between masculinity and femininity, and between the normal and the other. His archetypal figures encapsulate this dichotomy, embodying the individual's capacity to contain multitudes within one body and mind, in scenes he describes as intimate and surreal allegories of living in the world as someone positioned as Other.

Zhao received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York (2018) and his MFA in Visual Arts from SUNY Purchase College (2020). Solo exhibitions include Tomorrow Is Already Behind, Lyles & King, New York (2025); To Bloom, The Page Gallery, Seoul (2025); Birth of the Between, Latitude Gallery, New York (2025); Yesterday I became human, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Shanghai (2024); Holiday, Harper's, New York (2024); In Search of Gold Mountain (Gum San), Make Room, Los Angeles (2023); and Journey to the West, David Castillo, Miami (2022).

His work has been included in group exhibitions at Christie's, New York (2022) and the de la Cruz Collection, Miami (2021 and 2022), among others. Zhao's work is held in the collections of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and the de la Cruz Museum, Miami. He attended the Visual Arts Residency at the Chautauqua Institution, New York (2017).