“I am an inquisitive traveler,
a witness of my time, and
an ambiguous ambassador.”
Tseng Kwong Chi
1950-1990
“Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1979” by Tseng Kwong Chi (courtesy of the artist’s Estate and Carroll and Sons Gallery, Boston).
“In 1979 I went to Provincetown, and I ran into a funny beach house; I happened to have my Chinese costume with me and that is how I did my first self-portrait. Then, I took a trip around the USA, being interested in finding out what Americans worship in their country. I followed the trail of the typical places they love to visit.” – Tseng Kwong Chi
“New York, New York, 1979” by Tseng Kwong Chi (courtesy of the artist’s Estate and Carroll and Sons Gallery, Boston).
“His imagery was always the curious, blank Chinese tourist. I would say to Kwong that you don’t fool me, I know, I can sense protest when I see it… this blankness was the way in which this culture at large expected him, as an Asian man, to exist. So he became a kind of a cipher, a smooth surface that because it was so impenetrable, this persona, it reflected everything!”
– Bill T. Jones
Lucky us! The wonderfully campy, ironic and artful B&W self-portrait work of the late Tseng Kwong Chi, from 1979 – 1989, is on view at Carroll and Sons in Boston’s South End AND at the Tisch Family Gallery in the Aidekman Arts Center at Tufts University. There will be a public reception at at Carroll and Sons TONIGHT, Wednesday January 27, 2016 from 5:30 – 7:30pm with the artist’s sister!
For more information about the exhibit at Carroll and Sons, running through February 27, 2016, go to: http://www.carrollandsons.net/exhibitions/
For more information about the exhibit at Tufts University, running through May 22, 2016, go to: http://artgallery.tufts.edu/exhibitions/2016/performingForCamera.htm
“New York, New York, 1979” by Tseng Kwong Chi (courtesy of the artist’s Estate and Carroll and Sons Gallery, Boston).
“[Tseng’s work is like] a cross between Ansel Adams and Cindy Sherman.”
– Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
Feature Image: “Hollywood Hills, California, 1979” by Tseng Kwong Chi (courtesy of the artist’s Estate and Carroll and Sons Gallery, Boston).
“Grand Canyon, Arizona, 1987” by Tseng Kwong Chi (courtesy of the artist’s Estate and Carroll and Sons Gallery, Boston).
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