(Ad Astra)
Frankie Gao
Born in Beijing, China 1983
Studied in China and later in the Netherlands
Lives and works in Hamburg, Germany, since 2015
EDUCATION
2008 - 2010 MFA Painting, Frank Mohr Institute, Groningen, the Netherlands
2009 Exchange Semester Program at Fine Art Department at Hunter College, New York, United States
2005 - 2008 MA Chinese Ink Painting, College of Fine Arts, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020 Clouds, Gallery JB Fine Arts, Hamburg, Germany
2018 Planetes, Frappant Galerie, Hamburg, Germany
2018 Constellations, JB Fine Arts, Hamburg, Germany
SELECTED PROJECTS
2025 - ongoing Metamorphosis - ongoing drawing project and public presentation at JB Fine Arts, Hamburg, Germany
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS
2026 Measures of Infinity, with Susanna Bauer and Carol Prusa, Le Salon Vert, Geneva/Carouge, Switzerlands
2026 Paper Positions Berlin, Tempelhof Airport, Main Hall, Berlin, Germany
2026 Patience in Looking, Truth in Making, The 8th John Ruskin Prize exhibition, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London, UK
2025 Paper Positions Berlin, Tempelhof Airport, Main Hall, Berlin, Germany
2023 Kunst am Rothenbaum - First Hamburg Gallery Tour in the Rothenbaum District, Hamburg, Germany
2023 Metamorphose & Artist Talk, Gallery JB Fine Arts, Hamburg, Germany
2022 Aufatmen, Barlach Halle K, Hamburg, Germany
2022 Anonyme Zeichner, Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin, Germany
2022 Derwent Art Prize Exhibition, The Gallery@OXO, London, United Kingdom
2021 Paper Positions - The Show, Hamburg, Germany
2020 Meditations on Paper, Gallery JB Fine Arts, Hamburg, Germany
2019 Cologne Fine Art & Design, Gallery JB Fine Arts, Cologne, Germany
2019 Open Studio, Baer Art Center, Hofsós, Iceland
2018 Nomads, nachspeicher23, Hamburg, Germany
2018 Derwent Art Prize Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
(exhibition tour to Town Hall Arts, Trowbridge and The Pencil Museum, Cumbria)
2018 Antarctica, Frappant Galerie, Hamburg, Germany
2018 Group Exhibition Lumen Residency, The Crypt Gallery, Euston, London, UK
2017 The Drawing Hub Fundraiser Silent Art Auction, The Drawing Hub, Berlin, Germany
2017 Kahnweiler Prize Exhibition, Museum Pachen, Rockenhausen, Germany
2017 Group Show Lumen Residency Atina, San Nicola Church, Atina, Italy
2017 Constellations: Cassiopeia, Art Night, Lumen Studios, the Crypt, London, UK
2017 Concrete Dance, Kunstvoll Gallery + BNKR Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
2016 Life is elsewhere, too, Kunstzimmer Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany (duo)
2016 Dominic Brown & Frankie Gao, Mimesia Gallery, den Haag, the Netherlands (duo)
2016 Lean Artist Cohort 1, Fab Lab St. Pauli + Künstlerhaus FAKTOR, Hamburg, Germany
2014 To Mars, Songzhuang Art Center, Beijing, China
2012 1st Contemporary Art WEIBO, Songzhuang Art Center, Beijing, China
2012 KunstRAI, Gallery Wilma, Amsterdam Rai, the Netherlands
2012 Just enough space to turn around, Het Glazen Huis, Amsterdam Rai, the Netherlands
2012 Raw Art Fair, Gallery Wilma, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
2011 Arti Den Haag, The Hague, the Netherlands
2010 Open Day Presentation, Wall House No.2, Groningen, the Netherlands
2010 Kunstvlaai/Artpie, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2009 Xchange, Time Square Gallery, New York, United States
2009 Showmaster, Groningen, the Netherlands
CURATORIAL PROJECT
2012 Project Initiator & Co-curator, Living.Being - Sino-Dutch Contemporary Art, Songzhuang Art Center, Beijing, China
SELECTED HONOURS & PRIZES & AWARDS
2026 Longlisted, Residency Haus des Papiers, Berlin, Germany
2026 Shortlisted, The John Ruskin Prize, London, UK
2022 Shortlisted, Derwent Art Prize, London, UK
2018 Shortlisted, Derwent Art Prize, London, UK
2018 Finalist, STRABAG Art Award, Vienna, Austria
2017 Finalist, Kahnweiler Prize (drawing), Rockenhausen, Germany
2011 Prize winner, Global Factory Arti-Challenge, Arti Den Haag, the Netherlands
SELECTED RESIDENCIES
2025 DEEP TIME: Art & Ecology in the Arctic Archipelago, Creative Body Institute, Fleinvær, Norway (November)
2019 Baer Art Center, Iceland (July)
2017 LUMEN Residency Atina, Atina, Italy (August)
2014 Mancheng International Art Village, Nanjing, China
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Hamburg Kunsthalle, Germany
Songzhuang Art Center, China
Mancheng International Art Village, China
Global Factory, the Netherlands
College of Fine Arts, Capital Normal University, China
Private collections in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, USA and China
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2026 The 8th John Ruskin Prize catalogue, UK
2023 2023/2024 Galerie in Hamburg, Germany
2023 Aufatmen, catalogue, Germany
2018 Planētēs, catalogue, Germany
2018 Derwent Art Prize catalogue, UK
2018 STRABAG Art Award catalogue, Austria
2017 Kahnweiler Prize Final Exhibition brochure, Germany
2017 Science & Fantasy, HANSEstyle October Issue, Hamburg, Germany
2016 Catalogue 'Art Map -- Moving Curatorial Project', Portugal
2012 KunstRAI broschure, the Netherlands
2010 Graduation exhibition catalogue, the Netherlands
2005 The Collection of the College of Fine Art Museum, Capital Normal University, China
INTERVIEW
2020 SHOWTIME FOR NETWORK, Hamburg, Germany
2017 Science and Fantasy, Hansastyle October Issue, Hamburg, Germany
2016 Interview for the exhibition at Mimesia Gallery, The Hague, the Netherlands
LINKS
2010 - present
2010 - present