This Moment: In Conversation with Guo Jian
Saturday 18 April 2026 | 11:00 AM
Surfers Paradise
Australia-based Chinese expatriate artist Guo Jian in conversation with HOTA Gallery Senior Curator Julie McLaren on the opening day of the This Moment exhibit.
Join us on the opening day of This Moment: Highlights from the White Rabbit Collection of Chinese Contemporary Art.
Guo Jian has lived and worked in Australia since 1992 and is one of 26 artists whose work features in This Moment.
Jian’s experiences of the tumultuous events of China’s recent history – his childhood during the Cultural Revolution, military service after leaving school, and first-hand experience of the pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989 – continue to influence his painting and photography practise. His work on these themes have attracted the attention of the Australian and international art world.
Artist Bio
Born a year after the Great Leap Forward, Guo Jian’s art is heavily influenced by the last fifty years of political upheaval in China. His work has been exhibited and collected in Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, USA, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and China, including Musée de Picardie in France, Brussels Art Festival, MOCA North Miami USA, White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney, the Art Gallery Of New South Wales, the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, and the National Gallery of Australia.
About Julie McLaren
Julie McLaren is Senior Curator at HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast, and curator of This Moment: Highlights from the White Rabbit Collection. She has nearly twenty years’ experience across the gallery and museum sector, with previous roles at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat International Foto Biennale, National Museum of Australia and National Film and Sound Archive. She has delivered more than fifty exhibitions and led major commissions, with a focus on collection-based projects and contemporary practice.
Getting there
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