Premio Combat Prize

Hua Bai is a Chinese visual artist whose works feature photography, video, and appropriated material. Taking a critical view on social issues, Hua explores the intrinsic struggle of human emotions and friction created by social transformations.
Both psychological and visual repetitive patterns are used to describe his interpretation of the current state of the world we live in: a vast, materialistic environment that tops productivity over everything else. His language in art making includes juxtapositions of stimulating abstract forms and sounds that portray his critical views and sense of humor.
Hua is influenced by a number of contemporary artists. John Anthony Baldessari, American conceptual artist known for his work featuring found photography and appropriated images, has greatly influenced Hua’s. Usage of found and appreciated materials, combining the narrative potential of images and the associative power of language can be seen in Hua’s work. The influence of German contemporary artists Andreas Gursky and Michael Wolf can be seen in Hua’s most recent project: Virus.
In Virus, Hua explores the similarity between modern architecture and viruses. He creates a series of digitally structured photographs of modern architecture accompanied by a single channel video that remixes images, videos and music from the Internet. The combination questions the principles of architectural reproductions in a sarcastic way.