Jia Aili is a Chinese contemporary artist born in 1979 in Liaoning province, China. 

His pieces feature the dark side of human progress and warfare, including symbols like gas masks, industrial waste, the hammer and sickle sign, and mushroom clouds. However, his captivating sci-fi style reveals also a certain admiration for these design and engineering feats - a contradiction that lies at the heart of his art, showcasing the existential duality of ugliness and beauty, threats and hopes. 

Renowned for his oil paintings, the artist employs a striking palette akin to Caravaggio's chiaroscuro, with contrasting dark tones and vibrant white strokes. 

Jia Aili is represented by Gagosian and has had several solo exhibitions since his graduation in 2004.

“ Painting is not a reproduction of the objective world, but meticulous care of the spirit. „

—Jia Aili