LAO DU（老杜）
Artist, Cartoonist, Editor
Exibiting Artist
CHINA

Born in a city of immigrants, Yinchuan, Ningxia, to a family with roots in Shanxi and Beijing, Lao Du (Du Jinsu) has always lacked a sense of home and belonging and even today feels like a guest in this world. His deep affection for art was discovered early and from the age of nine he was tutored by art professor Pan Zepei, the first art professor assigned to Yinchuan in the PRC's history. In 1984 he entered the Xi'an Art Academy to further his studies. In his day job Lao Du now works as editor and cartoonist, while he develops his art in his spare time (or maybe the other way round).

As a cartoonist, he has 10 years of experience of analyzing news, and was awarded several times with the Beijing News Prize and once with the China News Prize. His cartoons were published in the volume Lao Du's News Cartoons and also appeared in many publications and on websites in China and abroad. In January 2014 he held a solo news cartoon exhibition in Bremen, Germany.

As an artist, Lao Du participated in many exhibitions, among them the exhibition TEATRO organized by UNICEF in Venice, the Asian Art Exhibition in Washington organized by Asian Pacific Art Institute of America (APAIA), the International ArtExpo California, the Sausalito Art Festival, LOOKING BOTH WAYS at East Michigan University and others. His works have been bought by collectors and art lovers in China, Switzerland, Germany, France, USA and Canada.

Lao Du loves traveling and horse riding and often combines both. Both themes also give him strong inspiration for his creative work. The old Chinese had a saying that traveling and studying from books are the same and Lao Du has proven this to be true, indeed. Traveling did not only broaden his visual horizon but also helped him to adjust his understanding of the world and humanity. Today, his interests mainly lie in the relationship of people & people and people and the environment in the modernizing world.