Born in Chengdu in 1976, Tu Hongtao has emerged as a representative of a generation of artists whose oeuvre has focused on this very journey of national self-discovery. Though he is a contemporary of such artists as Zhang Xiaogang, Yue Mingjun and Fang Zhangjie, he has created works which are the representation of a world of virtual pleasures, images, technology and dreams. Rooted in the aesthetics of Animamix (Animation and Comics), a term describing the marriage of the world of the visual fine art with the fundamentals of animation and cartoons, Hongtao’s paintings witness the rapidity of change at work in both our physical spaces and in an individual’s emotional state. They focus on creating cityscapes juxtaposing modern technology advances with figures that are doll-like in proportion and construction, stress the lack of coordination between the human condition and contemporary urban lifestyle. In so doing his works emphasise the vulnerability of the individual human being.  Eschewing a practice that has become common in contemporary Chinese painting focusing on the importance of the brand names, advertisement and modern labels  his paintings instead feature surrealistic technique (both in terms of composition and subject) highlighting the modernization of a traditionalist culture in an entirely new way.

Education
1995  Graduated from the High School of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute
1998 Got the excellent encouragement of Taiwan Li Zhongsheng Foundation
1999 Graduated from China Academy of Fine Arts. Lives and works in     Chengdu
Exhibitions
2007 Olyvia Oriental Ltd., London
2006 Square Gallery, Nanjing, China. Tu Hongtao &Li Qing two persons show, Line Gallery, Yan Huang Museum, Beijing, China 
Fiction @ Love Bund 18 Creative Center, Shanghai, China
2005 Living in Chengdu-Shenzhen Contemporary Oil Painting Art Exhibition, Shenzhen Art Museum. Living in Chengdu-Shenzhen Contemporary Oil Painting Art Exhibition, The Modern Art Museum Chengdu.18 Artists – Contemporary Art Exhibition, Soobin Art Gallery, Singapore Tu Hongtao and Wu Jianjun, Soka Contemporary Space,Beijing
2004 On Track, Off Track – Contemporary Art Exhibition, East Railway Station Studio, Chengdu
2003 Sichuan Oil Painting Art Exhibition, Sichuan Art Museum
Whole China Oil Painting Art Exhibition, China Art Gallery, Beijing
2002 Sichuan Youth Art Exhibitions, Chengdu
2001 Up-Down-Left-Right, The Mondern Art Museum, Chengdu