Tseng Kwong Chi (American, 1990)

Tseng Kwong Chi (American, 1950–1990) was a photographer active in the East Village art scene of the 1980s. Born in Hong Kong, Tseng studied traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy as a child, before relocating to Canada with his family at the age of 16. He then studied painting and photography at the L’École Supérieure d’Arts Graphiques at L’Académie Julian in Paris, France, and eventually settled in New York City in 1978.

Tseng became interested in travel and the phenomenon of Asian tourists in Western culture, and developed the artistic persona known as the "Ambiguous Ambassador." Similar to his friend and influential artist Cindy Sherman, Tseng inserted himself into his images, dressing up in the stereotypical Mao suit, dark eyeglasses, and name tags that read "SlutforArt." The images, known as the Expeditionary Self-Portrait Series a.k.a. East Meets West, were set against famous landmarks, from the Statue of Liberty and Disney Land to Notre Dame. He also created a series of works in black and white and color, which featured his artist friends and influences, including Keith Haring (he later became Haring’s official photographer) and Andy Warhol, as well as other aspects of the vibrant East Village art scene of the 1980s.

Tseng died from complications related to AIDS at the age of 39. His work is the public collections of the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Rubell Collection in Miami, among others. Tseng’s photographs were shown publicly in China for the first time at the 2004 Shanghai Biennale.

Timeline

1950
Born in Hong Kong
1966
Left Hong Kong with family
1974
Graduated from L’École Superior d’Arts Graphiques at L’Academie Julien, Paris, France
1979
Settled in New York, NY
1990
Died in New York, NY

Exhibitions

2010
Tseng Kwong Chi: BODY PAINTING with Keith Haring and Bill T. Jones, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
2008
Tseng Kwong Chi: Self Portraits, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
Against All Odds: Kieth Haring in the Rubell Family Collection, Palm Springs Art Museum, USA
Brasil: desFocos, Centro Cultural do Banco do Brasil/Rio, Pao das Artes, Sao Paulo, Brazil
From Street to Studio, Brattleboro Museum, Brattleboro, USA
2007
Tseng Kwong Chi: Ambiguous Ambassador, Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, USA (solo)
The Downtown Show: The New York Art Scene, 1974 - 84, Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, USA; The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, USA; The Austin Museum of Art, Austin, USA
2005–2006
Tseng Kwong Chi: East Meets West, Galleria Carla Sozzani, Milan, Italy (solo)
2005
Tseng Kwong Chi: Ambiguous Ambassador, Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (solo)
East Village USA, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, USA
2004
Techniques of the Visible, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai Biennale, China
Camera/Action, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, Chicago, USA
Only Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self, International Center of Photography, New York, USA
Portrait of the Art World: A Century of ARTnews Photographs, The New York Historical Society, New York, USA; National Portrait Gallery at the S. Dillon Ripley Center, International Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, USA; Museum of New Mexico, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, USA (catalogue)
2002
Archi-Tourism, Buell Center of American Architecture, Columbia University, New York, USA
Tseng Kwong Chi: A Retrospective, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, USA (catalogue) (solo)
Issues of Identity in Recent American Art, Roland Gibson Art Gallery, SUNY Potsdam, NY; University Galleries, Illinois State University, Normal, USA; The Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA; Ben Shahn Galleries, William Paterson University, Wayne, USA; Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, USA (catalogue)
1999–2001
Tseng Kwong Chi: Citizen of the World, traveled to Johnson County Community College Gallery of Art, Overland Park, USA; Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, USA; J. Wayne Stark University Center Galleries, Texas A & M University, College Station, USA (solo)
1998–1999
Tseng Kwong Chi: The Expedition, Art Gallery of Windsor, Ontario, Canada (solo)
Tseng Kwong Chi: The Expedition, Art Gallery of Windsor Ontario, Canada
1997
Tseng Kwong Chi, Citizen of the World, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
The Gang's All Here, New York in the Eighties, Julie Saul Gallery, New York, USA
East Meets West, Haines Gallery, San Francisco, USA
Tseng Kwong Chi, Citizen of the World, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona, Tucson, USA (solo)
Crossing the Frontier: Photographs of the Developing West, 1849 to the Present, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA
1994–1996
ASIA/AMERICA: Identities in Contemporary Asian American Art, Asia Society Galleries, New York, USA
1995
Longing and Belonging: From the Faraway Nearby, Inaugural exhibition at SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, USA (catalogue)
1993
Tseng Kwong Chi: Polaroids, Portraits, Expeditions, Alternative Museum, New York, USA
Tseng Kwong Chi: Polaroids, Portraits, Expeditions, Alternative Museum, New York, USA (solo)
1992
Tseng Kwong Chi: The Expeditionary Works, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, USA (catalogue) (solo)
1987
Portrayals, International Center of Photography, New York, USA
1985
1985 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA
1984
5/5 Figuration Libre France/USA, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
East Meets West: American Monuments Series, C.E.P.A. Gallery Buffalo, New York, USA
Art in Transit, a collaboration with Keith Haring, Semaphore Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
1980
First Invitational, Club 57, New York, USA

Literature

2005
Tseng Kwong Chi, Ambiguous Ambassador, monograph with essays by Dan Cameron, Richard Martin and Grady T. Turner, Nazraeli Press/JGS, 2005. Available at www.strandbooks.com or www.nazraelipress.com. Contact Nazraeli Press directly by calling 520-798-1530.
2005
Architourism, Ed. by Joan Ockman and Salomon Frausto, Columbia Buell Center/Prestel, 2005,
2004
Shanghai Biennale: Techniques of the Visible, exhibition catalogue, 2004, pp. 76-79.
2002
A Retrospective, Improbable Pilgrim: The Photographs of Tseng Kwong Chi, essay by Amy Ingrid
1997
Art in America, article by Grady T. Turner, "The Accidental Ambassador,” March 1997.
1995
An American Century of Photography, The Hallmark Collection, text by Keith Davis, Hallmark Cards, Inc. in association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., pp. 314-45, 353, 1995.
1992
Tseng Kwong Chi: The Expeditionary Works, essay by Barry Blinderman, Houston Center for
1990
Tseng Kwong Chi, foreword by Richard Martin, Art Random, Kyoto Shoin, 1990.
1986
Arts Magazine, article by Richard Martin, “The Expeditionary Photographs of Tseng Kwong Chi,” September 1986.
1984
Art in Transit, New York Subway Drawings by Keith Haring, introduction by Henry Geldzahler and text by Keith Haring, Harmony Books, Crown Publishers, 1984.