Cui Xiuwen  (Chinese, 1970) 

Cui Xiuwen (Chinese, b.1970) is a photographer best known for her statements on feminism. Born in Haerbin, China, the artist received a BA in Fine Arts from the Northeast Normal University. She later studied at the Central Academy of the Fine Arts, graduating in 1996 with an MFA. Xiuwen creates work that has a message or a story attached.

In 1998, while working with a television crew, the artist became interested in creating new representations of her work. Her first foray into the world of video installations came in 2000, when she exhibited Lady's Room, which showed women inside a restroom at a popular nightclub in Bejing. All of Xiuwen’s work features young women, and many of her pieces since 2001 feature women wearing the same outfit in different parts of Bejing. One of her more popular works is the series One Day in 2004, which shows a woman wearing a red and white outfit. In each image, Xiuwen arranges the woman in a different position. Though the images have some similarities, the expression on the model's face frequently changes.

The artist uses the work to express her commentary on major events in Chinese history. She has plans for more images and video installations in the future that utilize the model. One of her recent works was Sanjie, which recreates The Last Supper with female models. She also creates work that focuses on the experience of growing up as a girl in China. One of her newest pieces uses images of preteen girls and girls in their early teens. Each image shows the young girls in pregnancy suits, which highlights the speed with which girls grow up today.

Xiuwen has taken part in several group exhibitions, including shows at Christie's Rockefeller Center in New York, NY, the Palazzo Reale Museum in Milan, Italy, and the Chengdu Contemporary Art Museum in Chengdu, China. She had two solo shows in 2011 at Eli Klein Fine Art in New York City, NY, and the Blindspot Gallery in Hong Kong, China. Xiuwen currently lives in Beijing, where she continues to work on her photography and video installations.