b. 1976, Changsha, China; lives and works in Guangzhou, China

Zhou Tao is a contemporary artist working primarily with moving image and performance whose practice explores the shifting relationships between people, landscapes, and the built environment. Drawing on encounters with places and communities, his films emerge through observation and lived experience, transforming everyday situations into poetic narratives that move fluidly between documentary and fiction. Rather than treating the camera as a neutral recording device, Zhou approaches filmmaking as an embodied way of engaging with the world, allowing chance interactions and accumulated moments to shape each work.

His films frequently examine the social and environmental consequences of urbanisation, migration, labour, and global infrastructure, revealing the often-overlooked tensions between human activity and natural landscapes. Combining subtle humour with quiet contemplation, Zhou constructs layered visual narratives that resist singular interpretations, inviting viewers to inhabit uncertain spaces where reality folds into imagination and the ordinary becomes a site of reflection on contemporary life.

Recent solo exhibitions include Zhou Tao: Winter North Summer South, Times Art Center Berlin, Berlin (2020); Zhou Tao: Tong Jing Ling, Times Museum, Guangzhou (2019). Recent group shows include The Gatherers, MoMA PS1, New York NY (2025); 2025 Busan MoCA Cinemedia_After Cinema, Busan Museum of Contemporary Art, Busan (2025); Rock Host, Infrustructuring the Void, Beiqiu Museum of Contemporary Art, China (2025); I Never Dream Otherwise Than Awake: Journeys In Sound, Centre Pompidou x West Bund Museum, Shanghai (2024); Small World - The 13th Taipei Biennial, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei (2023); Curtain, Para Site, Hong Kong (2022); Observations, Centre Pompidou x West Bund, Shanghai (2020); Shanghai Waves: Historical Archives and Works of Shanghai Biennale, Power Station of Art, Shanghai (2020); The Street. Where the World Is Made, Mo.Co. Panacée, Montpellier (2019); For Beyond That Horizon Lies Another Horizon, Museum Sztuki, Łódź (2019); Reenacting Reality - Images from Wang Bing's Collection, OCAT Shanghai, Shanghai (2019); The Wind of Time - 2018 Lianzhou International Photo Festival, Lianzhou, Guangdong (2018); The Street. Where the World Is Made, MAXXI, Rome (2018); Luleå Biennial, Luleå, Sweden (2018); Trace Evidence, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco (2018) and FRONT's Film Program, FRONT International, Cleveland (2018).

For further information about this artist please click here.

For Zhou Tao's entry on Asia Art Archive's website please click here.