Artist Biography
Inga Svala Thorsdottir (b. 1966, Selfoss, Iceland, based in Hamburg, Germany) and Wu Shanzhuan (b. 1960, Zoushan, China, based in Hamburg, Germany) are an artist duo whose collaborative practice since 1992 has critically examined the relationship between art and consumption. Drawing from mathematics, philosophy and linguistics, they juxtapose symbols, words and shapes to question how value and function are assigned to things.
Both artists had established notable individual careers prior to their collaboration. Wu was known for his text-based works as a leading figure in the Chinese Conceptual Movement of the 1980s, while Thorsdottir gained recognition for Thor’s Daughter’s Pulverisation Service (1993–ongoing), a series where objects are ground down and preserved in their powdered form. Their shared interest in challenging the nature of art objects has led to works such as An Appreciation (1992), where Wu urinated into Marcel Duchamp’s La Fontaine (1917) while Thorsdottir documented the act. In their Perfect Bracket (1991–ongoing) project, the duo devised a visual and conceptual symbol comprising overlapping parentheses to explore how knowledge can be held and contained.
Wu obtained his BFA from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou in 1986, while Thorsdottir obtained her BFA in Painting from the Icelandic School of Arts and Crafts, Reykjavik in 1991. Both artists received their MFA from Hochschule für bildende Künste, Hamburg in 1995. Wu’s work, along with several collaborative projects by both artists, is held in collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; M+, Hong Kong; Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai; and Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou.
Notable exhibitions include Wu Shanzhuan & Inga Svala Thórsdóttir with Tony Oursler (2016), Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing; Tales from The Taiping Era (2014), Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing; Surplus Authors (2012), FKA Witte de With, Rotterdam; Red Humour International in collaboration with Inga Svala Thor's Daughter's Pulverization Service (2008), Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou; Continental Shift (2000), Musée d'Art moderne et d'Art contemporain, Liège; and The Scream (1996), ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj. The artists have also participated in major international festivals including Being Theoria (2022), 4th Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art.
Thorsdottir and Wu had their residency at STPI Workshop in 2012, resulting in the exhibition The Printer / The Paper / The Layer / The Thing’s Right(s) / The Little Fat Flesh (2014).