Zhu Yu (artist)

Zhu Yu 朱昱
Born	1970 Chengdu, People's Republic of China
Nationality	Chinese
Notable work	Cannibalism (食人) Sacrifice (献祭) Leftover

Zhu Yu (pinyin: Zhū Yù b. 1970) is a performance artist living in Beijing, China. Zhu graduated from the Affiliated High School of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1991. His work deals with subjects of contemporary art.

Zhu Yu is often termed the most controversial and criticized artist in China. Zhu graduated from the Affiliated High School of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1991. His contemporary performance art raises questions about moral agendas, and draws an audience through its shock value. His artwork often encompasses the human body. He is categorized by some critics as an artist of the “cadaver school,” which consists of artists who tend to use human body parts in their work. Yu's most famous piece of conceptual art, titled "Eating People," was performed at a Shanghai arts festival in 2000. It consisted of him cooking and eating what is alleged to be a human fetus. The picture, circulated on the internet via e-mail in 2001, provoked investigations by both the FBI and Scotland Yard. It was intended as "shock art". Snopes and other urban legend sites have said the "fetus" used by Zhu Yu was most likely constructed from a duck's body and a doll head. Other images from another art exhibit were falsely circulated along with Zhu Yu's photos and claimed to be evidence of fetus soup. The piece's cannibalistic theme caused a stir in Britain when Yu's work was featured on a Channel 4 documentary exploring Chinese Contemporary Art in 2003. In response to the public reaction, Mr. Yu stated, "No religion forbids cannibalism. Nor can I find any law which prevents us from eating people. I took advantage of the space between morality and the law and based my work on it". Yu has claimed that he used an actual fetus which was stolen from a medical school. He was prosecuted for his deeds.

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