“Who Is He?” the first retrospective of Geng Jianyi’s work since his death in 2017 at age fifty-five, surveyed nearly four decades of the artist’s practice, bringing together a generous selection of some ninety works in a wide range of media. Without taking a strictly chronological or thematic approach, curators Karen Smith and Yang Zhengzhong illuminated the recurring concerns in Geng’s Conceptual oeuvre as they emerge across time and in a variety of materials.

One of Geng’s lasting preoccupations was the impossibility of communication, as exemplified by Tap Water Factory, 1987/2022, an interactive