PRESS / INFORMATION
Press & information
Artist biographies, CV and images for exhibitions, screenings, interviews and research.
何发 / He Fa
He Fa is an artist and filmmaker based in Beijing, China. His practice encompasses photography, moving-image installations, theatre, film and writing. Early works fragment and reassemble photographs; Fafalish and YourTube bring language, bodies and screens into the image. As a co-initiator and long-term host of P4 Theater, he develops sustained processes of rehearsal, performance and filming. He initiated, produced and edited Human Surrender (Shoot Self with You), whose direction and screenplay are collectively credited to the crew.
Chinese name: 何发. Current English name: He Fa. Historical English records also use Fa He; citations may retain the name as it appeared in the source.
Biography
He Fa works across photography, moving-image installations, theatre and film. Based in Beijing, he has also studied and made work in San Francisco. His early photographic practice, developed from around 2009, fragments and reassembles portraits, cities and landscapes. I, Shanshui, Central and Cocktail approach photography through bodily distance, montage, spatial rearrangement and the sorting of digital files.
Hamlet’s Mirror (2015) interweaves performance, projection and screens. Made during his time in San Francisco, Fafalish (2017) transforms translation, accent and transcription into video and printed text. YourTube (2018) organizes viewing through linked seats, multiple screens and exposed cables.
He Fa co-initiated P4 Theater with Zhang Shaohua and continues as its long-term host and organizer. This Beijing-based practice has worked in theatres, factories, offices, boxing spaces and bookshops, connecting recruitment, rehearsal, performance, documentation and writing. Human Surrender grew through collective rehearsals, filming and The Last Rehearsal performance in 2023, becoming a film of approximately 156 minutes in 2024. The end credits assign direction and screenplay collectively to the crew. He Fa is credited as initiator, producer and editor, with contributions to cinematography, art direction, rehearsal texts and subtitles.
He Fa studied photography in the School of Design at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and pursued MFA studies at California College of the Arts (CCA). Shanshui: Red and Shanshui: White were included in the CAFA Art Museum’s 2012 undergraduate collection. Fafalish was exhibited at CCA’s Simpson Library in 2017; in 2018 he participated in the CCA MFA Thesis Exhibition under the name Fa He. He currently uses the English name He Fa.
Downloads
Artist dossier / PDF ↓
Biography, CV, selected works and contact information.
Signed writing index / CSV ↓
Editable titles, dates, bylines and source links.
Artist portrait / WebP ↓
He Fa / 何发.
Human Surrender still / WebP ↓
Film still, 2023–2024. Direction and screenplay: crew; initiated, produced and edited by He Fa.
Please retain the work title, year and credit when reproducing images. Contact He Fa for print-resolution files, screening masters, installation specifications or a particular editorial format.
Work records & citation
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Open the reference index ↗BEIJING / CHINA