Hu Xiaoyuan was born in 1977 in Harbin. She later moved to Beijing, where she graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
She began to exhibit her work in 2003 as part of N12, a circle of twelve fellow-graduates of the Central Academy. Their first exhibition, N12 New Painting – No.1, was held at the Art Museum of the Central Academy. It was followed in 2004 by N12 New Painting – No 2. In 2007 Hu was selected for documenta 12 in Kassel, directed by Roger M. Buergel in collaboration with Ruth Noack. This led to a series of exhibitions in Europe and Asia.
Since 2010 Hu Xiaoyuan has been taking part in one-person and group exhibitions with Beijing Commune. She participated in a group exhibition, The Ungovernables, at the New Museum Triennial in New York in 2012. Then came A Potent Force, with Duan Jianyu, at the Rockbund Art Gallery, Shanghai. This was followed by her participation in various group shows, such as My Generation: Young Chinese Artists at the Tampa Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida; Focus Beijing: De Heus-Zomer Collection at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam; Inside at the Palais de Tokyo; My Generation: Young Chinese Artists at the Museum of Art in Orange County, California.