In 2005, Rossi & Rossi London unveiled one of the first commercial Tibetan contemporary painting exhibitions in the Western world at its former space on Old Bond Street. Titled Visions from Tibet: A Brief Survey of Contemporary Painting, the presentation featured more than a dozen Tibetan artists, marking the beginning of the gallery’s foray into contemporary art.

Twenty years later, we are inviting eight Tibetan artists, all of whom are based in Lhasa, from the same group to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of our contemporary programme. Many of them are founding members of the famed Gedun Choephel Artists’ Guild, an artist initiative formed in 2003 to showcase, discuss and express the multifaceted Tibet in creative originality through art.

Curated by Tibetan artist Gade, a founding member of the guild, and gallery owner Fabio Rossi, the exhibition will include works by Benchung, Dedron, Gade, Nortse, Penpa, Tashi Norbu, Tsering Nyandak and Tsewang Tashi. Each artist brings their works from twenty years ago into dialogue with their most recent creations, reflecting the changes that have been taking place on their sacred land in the Himalayas. Of special note, five of the artists (indicated below with an asterisk) will travel to Hong Kong for the 26 July opening of the exhibition, which is on view through 13 September 2025.

‍

About the artists‍

Benchung (Benpa Chungda)‍

Benpa Chungda (b. 1971, Lhasa) enrolled at Tibet University in 1989 at the age of fifteen, completing his BFA in 1992. The artist continued his studies in Norway, receiving an MFA from Oslo National Academy of the Arts in 2007. ‌Benchung’s works frequently employ metaphors to explore the myriad challenges of human existence within specific geographical contexts. Densely layered with intricate lines in their visual vocabulary, his works are rich with hidden meaning, and they have been exhibited across the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Germany, China, Japan and Tibet. He lives and works in Lhasa, where he continues to teach art in the Department of Art at Tibet University.‍

‍Dedron‍

Heavily influenced by classical Tibetan art, Dedron (b. 1976, Lhasa) incorporates traditional painting techniques into her own pictorial language to comment on the impact of modernisation and globalisation on Tibet’s environment and traditions. Her works incorporate Modernist, Cubist and even Surrealist elements, and they are known for the incredible detail in their ornamentation as well as their energetic colours.

Dedron graduated from the Art Department of Tibet University, Lhasa, in 1999. She is a member of the China Minority Art Association and the Gedun Choephel Artists’ Guild. Her works have been exhibited extensively in Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, China and Australia.‍

‍Gade
Gade (b. 1971, Lhasa) graduated in 1991 with a degree in art from Tibet University, where he went on to teach. In 1992, he began to study art history at Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Arts, later attaining an MA in art management. A founding member of the Gedun Choephel Artists’ Guild, Gade has exhibited internationally in numerous solo and group shows. His works are held in private and public collections around the world, including those of the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA; the World Museum, Liverpool, UK; the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia, Spain; and the White Rabbit Foundation, Sydney, Australia. In 2010, he co-curated the groundbreaking exhibition Scorching Sun of Tibet at the Songzhuang Art Center in Beijing, the first museum show of contemporary Tibetan art in mainland China.‍

‍Nortse
Born Norbu Tsering (1963, Lhasa), Nortse studied at Tibet University in Lhasa, the Central Arts Academy in Beijing and art academies in Guangzhou and Tianjin. Since the mid-1980s, he has been moving between photography, performance, painting, installation and ready-made multimedia compositions and sculpture. The artist’s amassed experience in this diversity of mediums resulted in his creation of striking mixed-media works that experiment with forms and imagery from traditional art and culture. His subjects range from landscapes to (self-) portraits, from claustrophobic interiors to expansive horizons, from the sacred to the profane.

In 2015, the artist participated in Go east, a showcase of works from the Gene and Brian Sherman Contemporary Asian Art Collection at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. His works have also been included in other solo and group exhibitions in China, Europe and the United States, and are held in public and private collections worldwide.

‍Penpa
Penpa (b. 1974, Doilungdêqên County, Lhasa) studied at Hefei Normal University in Anhui and Hebei Normal University, and he earned his MFA from the School of Art at Tibet University in 2013. His works span various forms, including painting, video, performance art, installation and collage. In 2003, he co-founded the Gedun Choephel Artists’ Guild.

‍Tashi Norbu
Tashi Norbu (TaNor) (b. 1981, Shigatse) holds an MA in art and currently works at the Tibet Autonomous Regional Mass Art Museum in Lhasa.

Tsering Nyandak
Tsering Nyandak (b. 1974, Lhasa) is a contemporary Tibetan artist based in Lhasa and a founding member of the Gedun Choephel Artists’ Guild. Largely self-taught, his artistic career was poetically launched by a torn book on Vincent van Gogh’s letters to his brother Theo. Today, his art centres around sensual expression and the affinity we feel as human beings on the common ground of dukha, the truth of suffering. His works are shown and collected locally and internationally.

‍Tsewang Tashi
Tsewang Tashi (b. 1963, Lhasa) graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Minzu University of China in Beijing in 1984. He also later earned an MA in visual art from the National College of Art and Design in Norway and later a PhD in modern Tibetan art from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. A founding member of the Gedun Choephel Artists’ Guild in Lhasa, he is currently a professor at the School of Arts, Tibet University, Lhasa. He has published papers on Tibetan art education and painting, organised conferences and curated exhibitions on modern and contemporary Tibetan art. His works have been exhibited at many international museums and galleries in Europe and Asia.