Born in 1955 in Chongqing, China. Currently based in Beijing and New York. Xu is a vice-principal of China Central Academy of Fine Arts since 2008 and one of the most prominent artists of China. The artist has invented approximately 4000 false Chinese
characters which are unreal and meaningless and created wood-printed books or installations using these characters. Xu questions languages and communications through artworks made of “made-up” characters.