About
Junshu Gu (kuulikki) is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and flâneur based in London, UK. Intertwining discourses around escapism, labyrinth, and post-truth, her work is rooted in rhizome theory and draws from her 13 years of interdisciplinary culture-related media work experience and profound expertise. Her practice incorporates painting, sculpture, and time-based media, appearing minimal and abstract, yet formally lithesome and precise.
Borrowing from the vocabulary of New Wave film, the anti-novel, and music, Junshu's concerns repeatedly revolve around questions of pessoptimism, social anxiety and the hidden initiative in chaos. She creates a sense of off-kilter rhythm where solid and amorphous energy collide. Junshu strives to address the allegorical narrative potential that arises from the edge of chaos in the real world, aiming to examine the absence of the female flâneur and the glass ceiling for women in contemporary discourse.
Education
2024-2025 Conditions Studio Programme
2021-2023 Royal College of Art, MA Fine Art, Contemporary Art Practice –Public Sphere
Press
FAD Magazine | Der Greif Magazine
Artwork Gallery | Al-Tiba9 Contemporary Art
Artron.net | Stockholm City Film Festival
Athens International Monthly Art Film Festival
Exhibitions
2025 6 Scorch Tin Rise, Conditions Studio Programme, 48 Whitigift Centre, London, United Kingdom
2025 Siren Songs, Mark Leckey w/ Conditions, NTS Radio, London, United Kingdom
2024 The PATH, SHIM Social Justice, Palazzo Pisani-Revedin, Venice, Italy (During the Venice Art Biennale 2024)
2024 Public, Shapes & Things, Online, London, United Kingdom
2024 About Time, Swanfall Art, The Handbag Factory, London, United Kingdom
2024 Open Open 2024: Seeing Red, Chapel Arts Studios, Andover, Hampshire, United Kingdom
2024 Facing Futures, FUSEBOX, London, United Kingdom
2023 RCA2023: Truman Brewery, London, UnitedKingdom
2023 Beyond Surface Radio, Montez Press Radio, Online/ New York, USA
2023 GLIMPSE, Publication Launch, Liquid Gold Studios, London, United Kingdom
2022 WIPShow, Royal College of Art, Online, United Kingdom
2022 White Table Takeover, Dyson Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2022 CAP Salon, Dyson Gallery, London, UnitedKingdom
2022 Hybrid Realities, Royal College of Art, Online, United Kingdom
2022 Pliable Tools: Zine Launch, Layla Bakery, London, United Kingdom
2021 GMT / CET, Beauté Du Matin Calme Gallery, Paris, France
2019 Sharp-Borderless, Being3 Gallery, Beijing, China
Screenings
2025 Screening + Q&A, Conditions Studio Programme: Film & Video 2025, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Cinema 1, London, United Kingdom
2024 Honorable Mention, Best Art | Poetry Short, Dreamers of Dreams Film Festival, Close-Up Cinema, London, United Kingdom
2024 Paris Lift-Off Film Festival 2024, Paris, France
2024 Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival 2024, Berlin, Germany
2023 Shorts On Tap, Rich Mix Cinema, London, United Kingdom
2023 London Lift-Off Film Festival, London, United Kingdom
2023 Stockholm City Film Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
2023 European Cinematography Awards, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2023 Cinematography & Photography Awards, London, United Kingdom
2023 Dumbo Film Festival, New York, USA
2023 Best of 2023, GRRL HAUS CINEMA, Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
2023 Beyond Surface - Tactile Presence, CAP Cinema, Tate Modern Lates, London, United Kingdom
Awards
2025 Longlist, Aesthetica Art Prize 2025, London, United Kingdom
2024 Longlist, The Visual Artist Association, Artist of the Year Award 2024, London, United Kingdom
2024 Longlist, The Visual Art Open 2024 (UK & International Emerging Artist Awards), London, United Kingdom
2024 Winner, On Art Festival 2024, Warszawa, Poland
2023 Winner, London International Short Film Festival, London, United Kingdom
2023 Winner, Best New Media, Athens International Monthly Art Film Festival, Athens, Greece
2023 Honorable Mention, Vienna International Film Awards, Vienna, Austria
Others
2022 Format: 30 Amazing Multidisciplinary Art Portfolio Website Examples
2008–2016 Journalist, Art Critic, Art World / Snacks
2008–2019 Freelance writer, contributor for LIFE, VISION, Modern Weekly and Metropolis, etc.