皿家 Min-Jia

[INSTALLATION VIEW - MIN-JIA: WORLD OF INTERIORS] Our latest gallery program ‘Min-Jia: World of Interiors’ is now officially open! In Min-Jia’s (@provessel ) first solo exhibition, their latest works revive vellum—chemically treated cow skin—into a pliable, temperamental material that reacts to its environment like living flesh. Thousands of cuts and punctures reveal the motif before it is painted, dried, and assembled into a puppet substantial enough to endure performance. Min-Jia’s practice hereby rhymes with their experience living with chronic illness. Puppetry forces the rhythms of the studio to take a methodical pace, starting and stopping to let the material dry, hydrate, stretch, or shrink. It involves both an intuitive sensitivity to the conditions of work and a confident willingness to distort and reshape flesh. Drawing from also an eclectic mix of references—including Chinese folk art, Orientalist kitsch, queer Art Nouveau, and Boys’ Love and Girls’ Love anime—Min-Jia mobilise the concept of ‘ornament’ both as disguise and enhancement, using it strategically to navigate hostile environments. By intensifying traditional motifs and domestic interior elements till they are eroticised, threatening, and writhing with life, Min-Jia reconstructs the ephemeral domestic spaces of travelling puppetry troupes, creating a parallel realm where these potent, transformative visual forces come to expressive life. _ Exhibition Dates: 20 September—15 November 2025 Generously supported by Canada Council for the Arts @canada.council   @provessel Installation view of ‘Min-Jia: World of Interiors’ at PODIUM, Hong Kong, 20 September—15 November 2025. Photo: Felix SC Wong. Courtesy of PODIUM, Hong Kong.   #PODIUM #podiumgallery #worldofinteriors #contemporaryart #artexhibition #artgallery #exhibitionopening #opening #nonbinaryartist #queerartist #minjia #皿家

24 today. my first solo show just opened at @podiumgallery (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) 1.5 years in the making. i gave it everything. endless thanks to @sexforestadmissions10cents @houfreeworld @ssvdlr @cusson.cheng @podiumgallery and master Wang Tianwen for believing in this project, and to @canada.council for the generous support ♪(*^^)o∀*∀o(^^*)♪ 📸 @felixscimagery

[OPENING 20 SEP - MIN-JIA: WORLD OF INTERIORS] PODIUM is proud to present ‘World of Interiors’, Urumqi-born, Berlin-based artist Min-Jia’s (@provessel ) first solo exhibition in their career and with the gallery. Built upon their apprenticeship in Shaanxi Huaxian shadow puppetry under master Wang Tianwen in Xi’an, China, this body of work samples and remixes traditional techniques, materials, and ornamental forms across cultures, creating an enigmatic site from which to investigate the interior life of the migrant. Drawing from the analysis of how economic and migratory cycles construct subjectivities in Chinese-Australian writer Aurelia Guo’s eponymous book, as well as the artist’s experience in the transnational Asian diaspora, the exhibition fractures and recycles narratives of transformation to destabilise myths of origin and identity. Artist Min-Jia, Master Wang Tianwen, and his assistants will be present at the opening on 20 September 2025 (Sat) from 2 to 7 PM. The exhibition is on view until 15 November (Saturday). - Opening Reception Saturday 20 September 2025 2—7 PM Exhibition Dates 20 September—15 November 2025 Generously supported by Canada Council for the Arts @canada.council Visual Design: @what_noise @provessel #PODIUM #podiumgallery #worldofinteriors #contemporaryart #artexhibition #artgallery #exhibitionopening #opening #nonbinaryartist #queerartist #minjia #皿家

The Net (After Xu Bing), 2026, graphite on paper, 42 x 29.7 cm Ft. part of Animacies: Biopolitics, Racial Mattering, and Queer Affect where Mel Y. Chen retells the story of Travis, a chimpanzee and former TV animal star who "went berserk" and mauled a woman named Charla Nash (a friend of his owner, Sandra Herold), destroying her nose, hands, lips, and eyelids. "Travis had been reluctant to go in for the night to the home he shared with Herold; Herold called Nash for help. According to Herold, after arriving in her car, Nash approached him with a stuffed toy before her face and then, by moving it aside, revealed her face, which had been altered by a new haircut and a makeover... We do not know whether it was her doubled switching of facial presentation that enraged or unsettled him, though Herold herself wondered whether this was so; and it was certainly Nash’s face that received heightened damage and was the focus of Travis’s attack, along with her hand. After some efforts to stop his attack, Herold called 911: “Oh, my God! He’s eating her! He’s eating her face! Shoot him, shoot him!” Herold later explained, “I had to save my friend,” meaning Nash. The responding policeman, whose safety seemed threatened by the chimp, who had approached his police vehicle, shot and mortally wounded Travis. Herold, as Travis’s nearly lifelong legal owner and human companion, shared wine with him in the evening, gave him Xanax and other pharmaceuticals, and shared his bed... after being shot by the police officer, Travis tragically retreated into the house he shared with Herold and into his personal cage, where he died."

Fighters II, 2026, graphite on paper, 29.7 x 42 cm

Fighters I, 2026, graphite on paper, 29.7 x 42 cm

Flying Machine, 2026, graphite on paper, 42 x 29.7 cm

made this painting toward the end of 2024 but never got around to posting it. it's the first iteration of the Father puppet I made for my show at @podiumgallery last year. it's an ode to beardsley's salome. it's the feeling of being held inside the icy stomach of an airplane. The Seed, 2024, oil on linen, 50 x 50 cm with artist's frame

𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁-𝗶𝗻-𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 駐留藝術家 - 𝗠𝗶𝗻-𝗷𝗶𝗮 皿家 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱 駐留時間 August 2025 - September 2025 Min-Jia explores narratives of transformation through queer, diasporic, and disabled perspectives, reimagining folk and ornamental arts and their global transformations. During their residency at HART HAUS, Min-Jia developed a contemporary reinterpretation of traditional Chinese shadow puppetry, including a shadow puppetry workshop, open studio, and engagement with collectors, arts professionals, and the public, allowing them to connect traditional craftsmanship with contemporary narratives. This residency is realized in collaboration with PODIUM. 皿家從酷兒、僑民及殘疾人士視角出發，探索轉化敘事，重新詮釋民間與裝飾藝術及其全球轉化。 在HART HAUS 駐留期間，皿家與 PODIUM畫廊及 Eaton HK 合作，創作了傳統中國皮影戲的當代再詮釋，並舉辦皮影工作坊與工作室開放，與收藏家、藝術專業人士及公眾交流互動。這些活動讓他們將傳統工藝與當代敘事及本地環境連結起來。 是次駐留計劃與 PODIUM 合辦。 —————— 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐢𝐧-𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞 關於藝術駐留計劃 HART Visiting-in-Residence Programme is a globally-focused, invitation-only residency. We provide international artists with the dedicated time, space, and support to develop local and pioneering work and foster cross-cultural dialogue. HART 藝術駐留計畫是一個僅限受邀參與的藝術家國際化項目。我們為全球藝術家提供專屬的時間、空間與支持，以創作在地及開創性的作品，並促進跨文化對話。 —————— Video by 影片製作：@reddrileyx #harthaushk #harthongkong #minjia #harthausresidency #artistresidency

[MIN-JIA JOINS PODIUM] PODIUM is delighted to announce its representation of artist Min-Jia (@provessel ) following their critically acclaimed solo exhibition ‘World of Interiors’ at the gallery last autumn. Known for their sensual yet humorous paintings, drawings and sculptural installations, Min-Jia’s practice samples and remixes references from manga, Art Nouveau, and folk and ornamental arts, destabilising myths of origin and identity through evocative narratives of transformation. Cusson Cheng (@cusson.cheng ), Co-Founder and Curatorial Director of PODIUM, remarks:
‘Min-Jia and I both live and work between Germany and Asia, and this shared experience gives us a mutual understanding of the complexities and contradictions that arise within overlapping cultural contexts. I first encountered their work when they were just 21, and was immediately struck by their rare ability to weave together poetic sensibility with intellectual precision. Their practice engages with questions that feel urgently relevant to our times, resonating equally with emerging and seasoned collectors. We are thrilled to accompany the next chapters of their practice through our upcoming programs and institutional collaborations.’ Currently based in Berlin, Min-Jia staged their debut solo exhibition at PODIUM in 2025. Their work has also been presented in group exhibitions at ACUD Galerie, Berlin (2025); Tofu Space, Copenhagen (2025); PODIUM, Hong Kong (2024); James Fuentes Gallery, New York (2024); Franz Kaka, Toronto (2024); Bernheim, London (2023); and Hunt Gallery, Toronto (2022), among others. Their work is held in the collection of the Royal Bank of Canada.

Min-Jia (b. 2001, Ürümqi, China) @provessel is an artist and writer living in Berlin, Germany. They destabilize the myths of origin and identity through narratives of transformation. Their work samples and remixes folk and ornamental arts and their global transformations—from Orientalist kitsch to Art Nouveau to manga—to re-examine fantasies of the Other across canonical and outsider art histories. Min-Jia has completed a Shaanxi Huaxian shadow puppetry apprenticeship under Master Wang Tianwen and graduated from Berlin University of the Arts (UdK). They have presented a solo project at PODIUM, Hong Kong (2025), and have exhibited internationally at James Fuentes Gallery, New York (2024); Franz Kaka, Toronto (2024); Bernheim, London (2023); and X Museum, Beijing (2023). Their work is part of the Royal Bank of Canada’s collection. They are currently working on their first novel, ‘Mechanical Tail’. 🌐 Website: https://minjia.parts/Min-Jia ✨ Follow @asianartcontemporary for the full interview with Jeongeun Han and discover more inspiring stories of contemporary Asian artists! #minjia #mediaart #folkart #contemporaryart #asianartcontemporary

Lure Drawings I-IX, 2024 Graphite on paper @provessel on view at Search for Tomorrow | Zurich Min-Jia destabilises the myths of origin and identity through narratives of transformation. Their work samples and remixes folk and ornamental arts and their global transformations from Orientalist kitsch to Art Nouveau to manga to re-examine fantasies of the Other across canonical and outsider art histories. Dates: November 19, 2025 - January 22, 2026 Location: Ramistrasse 31, Zürich, Switzerland 8001 #GroupShow #ContemporaryArt #BernheimGallery #BERNHEIM #ArtExhibition #Graphite #GraphiteDrawing #ContemporaryArt #GalleryExhibition  #ArtinZurich #MinJIa #illustration