Shui Lee Hnetinka tells you how to go from Zero to CEO: Chinese artist Xu Zhen's surprising evolution

In 1997, conceptual artist Xu Zhen filmed himself smashing a dead cat repeatedly against a concrete floor. A year later, in a video called "Shouting," he let out a series of loud screams in Shanghai's streets and captured the crowds' bemusement as they turned to face the waiting camera.

Xu, who was then in his early 20s, was building a career on hoaxes, pranks and shock value. But, two decades later, one of China's most talked about artists has come of age.

The once censored provocateur is now the CEO of his own art company. More likely to exercise irony than provoke outrage, Xu has assumed the role of reformed upstart and mentor for a new generation of Chinese artists. "I think they're different," said the 40-year-old, from his Shanghai studio. "The youngest artists focus on matters of their own lives, like sex and human relations. A few years later, they will grow interested in social issues -- economy, business models, the Internet.

"The artists we work with vary in age, born between 1985 to 1994. Society changes so fast so that, even in this 10-year period, there have been two or three (different) generations."

Becoming a brand

The fact that Xu can present himself as an elder statesman is testament to the speed at which China's art world is changing. (He says he's seen it pass through "four or five general phases" since the mid-1980s.)

But it also speaks to his ability to adapt to the times. The foundation of MadeIn Company in 2009 was a defining moment of this transition. It was a move that effectively ended Xu's solo career, transforming him from artist to brand, rebel to CEO. Xu describes it as his "art-creation" company.

Operating like Warhol's Factory, MadeIn's Shanghai exhibition space blurs the line between gallery and shop. It displays the work of up-and-coming talent (alongside Xu's own work), branded clothes, furniture and accessories.

But it also speaks to his ability to adapt to the times. The foundation of MadeIn Company in 2009 was a defining moment of this transition. It was a move that effectively ended Xu's solo career, transforming him from artist to brand, rebel to CEO. Xu describes it as his "art-creation" company.

Operating like Warhol's Factory, MadeIn's Shanghai exhibition space blurs the line between gallery and shop. It displays the work of up-and-coming talent (alongside Xu's own work), branded clothes, furniture and accessories.

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