Poyen Wang
Poyen Wang holds two master's degrees from the School of Visual Arts in New York City with a major in Computer Art, and Taipei National University of the Arts with a major in New Media Art. He won Gold Medal Award in New Media Art (National Art Exhibition, Taiwan), Paula Rhodes Award for Exceptional Achievement in Computer Art (School of Visual Arts, New York), Asia Digital Art Award (Fukuoka, Japan), and he completed the Artist in the Marketplace Fellowship (NY, United States) in 2018. His solo exhibitions including The Black Sun, Taipei Digital Art Center, Taiwan (2020), Atlas Portal, Taiwan Academy, Los Angeles, United States (2018), An Obscure Silhouette, Flux Factory, NY, United States (2018), and Saudade, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan(2016). He has been an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Film & Media Studies at Hunter College since 2021.
- Location USA / Los Angeles
- Year of the Grant 2018
- Residency 18th Street Arts Center
- Work Saudade
- Personal Website Poyen Wang's Personal Website
My primary medium is digital media, including 3D computer animation and installation. As I arrived at the 18th Street Arts Center, I began to prepare for the dual solo exhibition "Atlas Portal" at the Taiwan Academy. I collaborated with the local artist and curator Kio Griffith and presented four pieces of work: a single-channel video installation "Six Excerpts from a Journal," two-channel video installation "Crossing," mixed-media installation "A Fabricated Personal Archive," and a performance documentation and lighting installation "Route of Obsession." With the theme of technology, identity, and migration, at the opening reception, art critic Peter Frank, and Alma Ruiz, former senior curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), joined the conversation with Griffith and me.
For the 30th anniversary of the 18th Street Arts Center, I exhibited a site-specific video installation "Saudade" in the Atrium Gallery in the art center. The subject of the work talks about the phenomenon of individual migration associated with contemporary social globalization and transportation progress.
During my residency, I visited local art museums and performances. Seeing that Los Angeles based artists utilize various mediums and subjects with a fruitful contemporary vocabulary, I started thinking about the new trajectory of my artworks at the end of my residency. I reflect on the impact of digital technology on the identity construction between the fabricated and the authentic, the performative and the documented, and the public and the private. I presented a work-in-progress at the Atrium Gallery later. "Atlas Portal" at the Taiwan Academy attracted 300 to 400 people to visit. Art critics from LA Weekly, Artillery Magazine, and Art and Cake also contributed reviews on the exhibition.
I think sometimes an art residency means getting away from the daily routine. By immersing myself in different cultures, I broaden my perspective by learning other artists' thinking from different countries. I then integrated them into my own experience to enrich my art practice.