Chinese (Born 1979)
Contemporary Video Art, Digital Media Installation, and Conceptual Photography
Meiya Lin stands out as one of the most intellectually lucid and innovative multimedia voices of her generation, focusing her lens on the psychological fractures caused by hyper-urbanization.
Her artistic philosophy investigates the uneasy friction between state-mandated community choreography, corporate urban expansion, and the fragile preservation of personal and national identity.
Lin explores how modern mega-cities systematically alienate the individual, viewing the lens of her camera as both a tool for sociological documentation and a medium for poetic, slow-paced cinematic resistance against the rush of the digital age.
A true master of time-based media, Lin utilizes high-definition digital video, archival footage, found soundscapes, and large-format conceptual photography to construct her multi-screen installations.
Her technical process involves extensive field research, recording the quiet, forgotten routines of urban workers and contrasting them with grand, theatrical public spectacles.
She edits her videos using complex pacing, overlapping audio channels, and non-linear narrative structures, turning the physical architecture of the museum gallery into an active acoustic and visual echo chamber for the audience.
Formed at the elite Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam—the celebrated postgraduate wing of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie—Lin has successfully positioned her work within the top tier of European and Asian institutional collections.
Her major video installations, most notably the highly acclaimed projects The Times Are Summoning and Opera, have been exhibited in premier art spaces worldwide, including the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney.
Her work remains highly influential for its sharp, uncompromising critique of globalized social structures and modern living conditions.
Solo exhibitions
2026 — Hafnia Foundation, Aarhus
2024 — Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
2022 — Power Station of Art, Shanghai
2020 — National Gallery, Reykjavík
Group exhibitions
2025 — 60th Venice Biennale
2023 — Sharjah Biennial 15
2021 — Yokohama Triennale
Public collections
MoMA · Tate Modern · Centre Pompidou ·
M+ Hong Kong · Astrup Fearnley