Xu Guanyu 徐冠宇 (b. 1993 Beijing) is an artist currently based in Chicago and a lecturer at the University of Illinois. Born and raised in China, Xu moved to the US in 2014. He completed his MFA at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2019. His photographic installations offer an exploration of his complex personal history and identity.

His work bridges the gap between the personal and political, highlighting the disparities and connections between the two nations he calls home — all from the point of view of a Chinese gay man. His photographs capture complicated yet very personal installations in his bedroom in his family home in Beijing. These photos reveal the chasm between his experience of the US and his conservative family upbringing in China.

Xu is the recipient of many awards such as the Hyéres International Festival Prize (2020), PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai Exposure Award (2020), Philadelphia Photo Arts Center Annual Competition (2019), Lensculture Emerging Talent Award (2019), and Kodak Film Photo Award (2019). He has received artist residencies in ACRE (Chicago, IL), Light Work (Syracuse, NY), and Latitude (Chicago, IL).

His works have been exhibited and screened internationally including in the United States at the Aperture Foundation, New York; International Center of Photography, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Mint Museum, Charlotte,NC. Other major venues he has shown at include Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland; 36th Kasseler Dokfest, Germany, Goethe Institute in Beijing and Somerset House in London.

Xu has had solo exhibitions in Xiamen, Syracuse, New York and at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

His work can be found in public collections such as San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Harvard Art Museums, New Orleans Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

His works have been featured in numerous publications including The New Yorker, W Magazine, Musée Magazine, Der Greif, The Financial Times, Hermes in Vogue US and China Photographic Publishing House.