Xu Bing was born in Chongqing but grew up mainly in Beijing. He began his studies in the printmaking department at the renowned Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1977. After earning a BA in 1981 and an MFA in 1987 he went onto produce one of his best known works, Book from the Sky (1987 – 1991), earning XU Bing international recognition in the 1980s. The work is a massive installation made up of hundreds of volumes and scrolls printed with 4,000 imagined Chinese characters, which were cut by hand into wood printing blocks.
Auction Record (2015): US$ 1,639,000
Average Auction Sales Price (2015): US$ 219,124
