Bu Shi (born 1993, Chuxiong, Yunnan Province, China) lives and works in Ravena, Italy.
Bu Shi often works on small-scale canvases. His muted and aged palette conjures up antique jewelry—delicately exquisite while bearing traces of use. Seal engraving and calligraphy that blossomed in his formative years have played a foundational role in his art. Living in Italy, he taps into primordial memories, using occult objects as keys to connect with people of old. To Bu Shi, only in the face of occultism can we dissociate or illuminate our cultural identities that are beyond our choosing. Shaping indescribable objects or sketching the extremely unnatural play of light, he seeks to present us with a sense of dissonance. If it prevails, we will discern a fleeting glimpse of occultism amid the scattered dissonance, much like awakening at twilight from a prolonged midday nap.
Bu Shi graduated in painting at Sichuan University, College of Fine Arts in China, and in 2020, he obtained a master’s degree in Visual Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. Most recently, Bu Shi has a forthcoming solo exhibition at SARAHCROWN gallery, New York (2026). In 2025, he presented the solo exhibition Brace in Bocca at CAR Gallery, Bologna. In 2024, he showed Orange of Huaibei at Double Double Gallery, Beijing, and participated in "The Darkest Hour" at SARAHCROWN gallery, New York. In 2023, he presented the solo exhibition Il sogno della camera nera at CAR DRDE Gallery, Bologna, participated in Artissima at Oval Lingotto Fiere, Turin, and exhibited at the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, Venice. In 2022, he presented Mercury at MOUart Gallery, Beijing, and exhibited in "Sine Qua Non" at CAR DRDE Gallery, Bologna, receiving an honorable mention from the Critics and Collectors Award (Zucchelli Foundation).
CV
Exhibitions/Fairs with the Gallery
The Lighthouse, SARAHCROWN New York | April 2026
Kiaf Seoul, Seoul, South Korea | September 3-7, 2025
The Darkest Hour, SARAHCROWN New York | October 2024
