Background
Cao Yong was born on June 9, 1962 in Xinxiang, Henan, China.
曹勇
Cao Yong was born on June 9, 1962 in Xinxiang, Henan, China.
Cao Yong began painting when he was 11 years old. Due to his family background, he was considered politically questionable by the Chinese authorities.
He studied for a short period with the noted artist Yu Ren who was staying briefly in Xinxian. Cao Yong attended Henan University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts.
Following his graduation, Cao Yong took a position as Assistant Professor of Art at Tibet University. He spent seven years in Tibet and spent a year living alone in mountain caves of Ali, West Tibet, so he could copy the remains of ancient Tibetan wall paintings of the Guge kingdom.
In 1989, Cao Yong went over to Japan after a private exhibition of Beijing. He continued producing "The Split Layer of Earth - Mount Kailas" series while he was engaged in the wall painting production of the commerce space. In 1992, he held a private exhibition in the O ART Museum of Tokyo.
In 1994, Cao Yong went to the United States and held a private exhibition in Synchronicity Space of the New York SOHO. In 1999, he established Cao Yong Editions Inc in LA. In 2002, he produced "Freedom" in the anniversary of 9/11 terrorist incidents. "Free-Freedom" received Artist of the Year 2002, and he received an "Outstanding Volunteer" prize and a letter of thanks from the Los Angeles Fire Department (from a total of 118 stations).
Cao Yong produced an oil painting, "We The People", in commemoration of the Federal Constitution memorial day in 2005. In 2006, he was conferred the "2006 Inspiration Award" from the International Leadership Foundation (ILF).
In 2008, he produced "Voice of the East". The painting was selected by the Olympic committee to print on china and use as a special gift for the VIPs who attended the Olympics. Cao produced "Love without border" for the Sichuan earthquake.