Season Lao

Introduction to Season Lao

 

Season Lao (b. 1987, Macau) graduated from Macao Polytechnic University. Working across two-dimensional works, installations, and sculptural forms, his practice is grounded in Eastern philosophy and explores undifferentiated states between humans and nature, as well as between subject and object. Early in his career, his video work Pateo do Mungo generated significant social response, leading to the re-evaluation and preservation of historic buildings— including his ancestral home—that were originally slated for demolition. This moment became a pivotal starting point in his artistic practice.

 

Since 2009, Lao has based his practice primarily in Hokkaido, where he developed the Natural Emptiness series from natural phenomena such as snow and mist. Through the concepts of Engi (dependent origination) and the “law of the included middle,” he investigates perceptual experiences in which the real and the illusory co-arise. In his work, the artist is no longer positioned as a central subject but becomes part of the medium itself, seeking to move beyond representational notions of time and space. After relocating to Kyoto in 2019, he has continued to develop the installation and performance series Kyoshitsu Shohaku, re-examining the relationships between inside and outside, and between subject and object. His work was presented in a solo exhibition at the Musée des Arts Asiatiques in Nice in 2023 and is held in multiple international institutional and public collections.

1987 Born in Macau

 

Education

2010 BA, Macao Polytechnic University, Macau

 

Solo Exhibitions

2025 Installation of “KYOSHITSU SHOHAKU”「虚室・生白」by Season Lao at the Nishida Kitarō Museum of Philosophy,

2025 exhibition and symposium, The University of Tokyo

2025 JJ Joong Jung Gallery, Seoul

2025 Creative Macau

2025 Gallery Shirakawa, Kyoto

2025 Yiyun Art, Taipei

2024 Season Lao, Gallery Moryta, Fukuoka

2024 Gallery Shirakawa 40th anniversary John Cage, Season Lao, Kyoto

2023 Season Lao – Une pièce vide devient blanche pour l’illumination, Museum of Asian Arts in Nice, France

2022 San Kai Shosha, Gallery Garage, Kyoto

2022 Season Lao, Vivir sunis, Yilan, Taiwan

2021 Season Lao, Gallery Moryta, Fukuoka

2021 Season Lao, Flexform Tokyo

2021 Season Lao, Gallery Shirakawa, Kyoto

2021 Mino – blank-leaving, NIPPONIA Mino Shokamachi, Mino

2020 Season Lao x Sol LeWitt exhibition, Gallery Shirakawa, Kyoto

2019 Season Lao, Cross Hotel, Sapporo

2019 Season Lao, Ki Niseko

2019 Season Lao, Gallery NU, Daegu

2019 Season Lao, Rhythm Gallery, Taipei

2019 Season Lao, Gallery Moryta, Fukuoka

2019 Lotuses: Season Lao extraordinary alumnae exhibition, Macao Polytechnic University, Macau

2019 Dual Artists Exhibition, Ashiya Garo, Kyoto

2019 Season Lao, Zuisenji temple, Kyoto

2019 Season Lao, Gallery Shirakawa, Kyoto

2018 Season Lao, Gallery Kazuki, Tokyo

2018 Season Lao, Creative Spot, Macau

2018 Season Lao, Gallery Moryta, Fukuoka

2018 Season Lao, LeeSeoul Gallery, Seoul

2017 Season Lao: Hokkaido Winter, Gallery Mag, Como

2017 Season Lao workshop & exhibition, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Chikko Building, Osaka

2016 Dual Artists Exhibition: Hidden Landscape, AFA, Macau

2016 Dual Artists Exhibition: Communication – Photo and Phototypesetting of Macau and Nagasaki,

Galleries Omotesando, Musee F, Tokyo

2016 La Neige Snow, Gallery Mikazuki, Hokkaido

2016 The 67th Sapporo Snow Festival, St. Paul’s snow statue (14m) and exhibition for the 10th anniversary of Macau’s

2016 UNESCO World Heritage registration, Odori Park, Sapporo

2016 La Neige Snow, Fabulous, To Ov Café, Sapporo

2015 Season Lao, Sarohoumura, Sapporo

2015 Kanal permanent exhibition, Hokkaido

2015 Ephemeral Vision, NorthernArk, Hokkaido

2015 Spirit of snow, Khalifa Gallery, Seoul

2015 Spirit of snow, Arte Piazza, Bibai, Hokkaido

2014 Spirit of snow, Gallery Kaede, Osaka

2014 Spirit of snow, Sirius Award Exhibition, Aidem Gallery, Sapporo

2014 Spirit of snow, Gallery Esquisse, Sapporo

2013 Spirit of snow, Winkel Village Hokkaido Condominium, Hokkaido

2013 Spirit of snow, Gallery Re: Okagawa Pharmacy, Hokkaido

2013 Spirit of snow, Creative Macau

2012 Yubari: The Mountain Waiting for Wake Up, Former Sapporo Court of Appeals, Sapporo

2011 Gallery EN, Sapporo

2010 Páteo do Mungo: Season Lao Photobook publish and exhibition, 10 Fantasia, Macau

2008 Um Macaenseem Portugal, Anthony S. W. Lau Exhibition Hall, University of Macau Library

 

Group exhibitions and Artfairs

2025 Yiyun Art, Taipei

2025 Macau Museum of Art, Macau

2024 All Men Are Islands, Novus Art Salon, Paris

2024 UCCLA Lisbon

2024 Macau contemporary group exhibition, Nantong Art Museum, Jiangsu, China

2024 Art Fair Asia Fukuoka, Fukuoka Convention Center

2024 Macau Artists, Albergue SCM, Macau

2024 Contemporary art and Uchiwa, Gallery Shirakawa, Kyoto

2023 Art Osaka, Creative Center Osaka

2021 Boring Shadow: Foreign in Daily Life, Daguan Gallery, Taipei

2020 Nyoi-An, Nyoi-An, Kyoto

2020 Art Taipei, World Trade Center Exhibition Hall, Taipei

2019 transINK, Daguan Gallery, Taipei

2019 Pontes Aladas, by Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado (Lisbon), The Consulate General of Portugal in Macau

2019 Everything is still, Elizabeth de C. Wilson Museum, Manchester, VT, US

2019 Art in Park Hotel Tokyo, Park Hotel, Tokyo

2019 Unknown Asia Season Lao Award’s Winning Artists’ Exhibition in Macau, Albergue SCM, Macau

Hakata Hankyu x Art Fair Asia Fukuoka

2019 Art Taipei, World Trade Center Exhibition Hall, Taipei

2019 Shitsurai offeringsⅤ, The Terminal Kyoto

2018 Art Kaohsiung, The Pier-2 Art Center, Kaohsiung

2018 Bras Basah Complex Joint Art Week, Tide Gallery, Singapore

2018 Shanghai Art Fair, Shanghai World Expo

2018 Asia contemporary art show, Conrad Hong Kong Hotel

2018 X-Edition guest artist, Regent Singapore

2018 Art Fair Asia Fukuoka, Hotel Okura, Fukuoka

2018 Art Formosa, Taipei

2018 Unknown Asia Season Lao Award’s Winning Artists’ Exhibition in Macau

2018 Affordable Art Fair, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre

2018 Harbour Art Fair, Hong Kong

2018 MIA Photo Fair, The Mall, Milan

2018 Art in Park Hotel Tokyo, Park Hotel, Tokyo

2018 Infinity Japan Contemporary Art Show, Taipei

2017 Art Kaohsiung, Pier-2 Art Center, Kaohsiung

2017 Art Sapporo, Cross Hotel, Sapporo

2017 Macau Contemporary, 3331 gallery, Tokyo

2017 Autumn Salon, Orient Foundation, Macau

2017 Art Fair Asia Fukuoka, Hotel Okura, Fukuoka

2017 Aya Niseko Art Festival, Aya Niseko

2017 Affordable Art Fair, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre

2017 Shenzhen International Photography Exhibition (Macau Pavilion), ShenZhen

2017 Forest of Contemporary, Soei Gallery, Tokyo

2017 Infinity Japan Contemporary Art Show, Taipei

2017 Asia Contemporary Art: Singapore Contemporary, Photo17, Singapore

2017 Gallerism, Pias Tower, Osaka

2017 First Action: cut,press,sew,shoot,stroke, Gakei Gimlet Saas, Kyoto

2016 AYA Niseko Hotel

2016 Art Edition, Seoul

2016 Autumn Salon, Orient Foundation Macau

2016 La perseveranza, San Zenone all’Arco, Brescia

2016 Art Sapporo, Cross Hotel, Sapporo

2016 Daegu Art Fair, Exco, Daegu

2016 Art Fair Asia Fukuoka, Hotel Okura, Fukuoka

2016 Kankiri Openers, Art space Kan, Kyoto

2016 Young Art Taipei

2015 Art Mo, AFA, Macau

2015 L’uomo nel paesaggio, San Pietro in Atrio, Como

2015 AU 40th Anniversary AU International Contemporary Art Exhibition in Napoli

2015 Affordable Art Fair, New York

2015 Collective Exhibition on the Subject of Macau’s Participation in the Venice Art Biennale 2015, Albergue SCM

2015 Axis photo market 2 , Axis Gallery, Tokyo

2015 Space Redefined, JJ Joong Jung Gallery, Seoul

2014 Kawaba New-Nature Photo Award, Gunma, Japan

2014 The 14Th China Pingyao International Photography Festival Macau Pavilion curated by Macau Museum of Art Pingyao

2014 Asia contemporary art show, Conrad Hong Kong Hotel

2014 Art Fair Sapporo

2014 Daegu Art Fair

2014 Art point Iwaki, Fukushima

2014 Paper and Communication, Nagaoka, Japan

2013 2 + 1 Exhibition, Shinjyuku Ganka Gallery, Tokyo

2013 HK International Photo Festival Flare, Hong Kong

2013 The 46th Art Exhibition, Sapporo Citizens Gallery

2013 Higashikawa International Photo Festival, Higashikawa, Japan

2013 Heartscape: Photography of Macau Post-80s, Macau Museum of Art

2012 Art Annual of Maruyama Zoo, Sapporo Underground Pedestrian Space, Maruyama Subway Station, Sapporo

2009 Movie works exhibition at The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung

2008 Movie works exhibition at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou

2008 Busan International Design Festival

2008 China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair, Shenzhen

 

Public Collections

Museum of Asian Arts in Nice, Cernuschi Museum (Paris), Macau Museum of Art, Chishima Foundation (Osaka), The Ritz-Carlton Fukuoka, Setsu Niseko, AYA Niseko, Nipponia Mino Shokamachi etc.

Archive Collections: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Musée Guimet, Musée Cernuschi, The National Art Center, Tokyo, Princeton University, University of Michigan, Centre Pompidou, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (Seoul & Gwacheon), Gulbenkian Foundation, Asia Culture Center (Gwangju)

Bellinzona, Ticino, Switzerland
Handmade-paper, ink, photography
Edition︰4 of 5
103 x 32cm (with frame), 2018
NTD$132,000

Inquire

Talamona, Lombardy, Italy
Handmade-paper, ink, photography
Edition︰5 of 5
103 x 32cm (with frame), 2018
NTD$132,000

Inquire

Lotuses 2
Handmade-paper, ink, photography
62.5×28 cm, 2019
NTD$132,000

Inquire
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