Zhiwan Cheung

Statement

Zhiwan Cheung was born in Long Beach, CA to Chinese immigrants. After a brief stint as a child actor in Reading Rainbow, Zhiwan found himself making art. In using site and place as material, Zhiwan often probes individual identity and the borders of the self in relation to the external natural world. Though the use of time-based works (performances, storytelling, and videos) with constantly shifting associations, Zhiwan strives for several perspectives, signs, and spaces to co-exist in both contrasting and unfamiliar ways.

GlogauAIR Project

As a second-generation immigrant, I live in a liminal state that is neither my parents’ upbringing nor an American background. My art examines this sense of displacement through performances, since performativity gets close to the heart of identity. For the best performances, the blurring between fake and real becomes so powerful that we cease to see the person or the character: the mythic creation of one is constantly subsumed by the other, leaving the residue of the actual and the imaginary to shift and ebb between various in-between-states of identity. Through GlogauAIR, I hope to expand on my interest in these liminal states.

One movement that is concerned with the blurring of life and art is the Fluxus movement in the 1960s. It is for this reason that I hope to view the museum collections and archives of the Fluxus art movement throughout Germany, where the movement took shape. Because I am interested in performativity, I will look at the video archives of Neuer Berliner Kunstverein in Berlin, a video archiving institution with an emphasis on the Fluxus movement. I will also travel around Germany to visit other institutions with significant Fluxus holdings and other archival materials such as writings and pictures. Specifically, I will stay and research at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the State Museum Schwerin, the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, the Museum Fluxus+ in Potsdam, and Museum Wiesbaden which is often cited as the birthplace of Fluxus. Between each trip, I will return to Berlin to synthesize and reflect on my travels and the works and videos I viewed. Given Fluxus’ impact on performativity theory, my explorations of the movement will help me reinterpret my own approach to my art and performances. I will create new works inspired by the Fluxus movement in the form of video performances in Berlin. Combined with my displacement as an American living in Berlin, these new works will help me investigate my art in a cultural context that is not American-centric.

CV Summary

b.1986 Long Beach, CA

EDUCATION

• 2016 MFA, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
• 2008 BFA in Painting, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

• 2017 “Colorbound,” Bunker Projects, Pittsburgh, PA
• 2016 “Hanging Fruit,” Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
• 2015 “Golden Heritage Living,” Ellis Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
• 2014 “Mines’ Eye,” Ellis Gallery, Pittsburgh
  “Puer Aeternus,” The Silkscreen Room, Pittsburgh
• 2013 “Longing for the stars, longing for the moon,” CFA Logue, Pittsburgh
  “Unfinished conversations with my grandmother,” Doherty Display, Pittsburgh
• 2010 “Imma gonna eat choo,” New York Gallery, Seoul, Korea
  “Where’s My Snacky-snacks?,” Hapjeong Studio, Seoul, Korea
• 2008 “Mom Said It’s Terrible To Go Through Life Wishing You Were Somebody Else,” Hartell Gallery, Ithaca, New York
  “What’s Wrong With Bananas And Twinkies,” Tjaden Gallery, Ithaca, New York

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS / EVENTS / PERFORMANCES

• 2018 “Skinnable Shadows,” Kala Gallery, Berkeley, CA
  “Artists’ Annual Exhibition,” Kala Gallery, Berkeley, CA
  “Favorites’ Favorites,” (curated by Seder Burns), Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI
• 2017 “Contemporaneous,” Alphabet City, Pittsburgh, PA
  “Color: Coded,” New Art Center, Newton, MA
  “The Wild Future,” Paragon Arts, Portland, OR
• 2016 “Nothing is Itself,” Mine Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
  “ISC Awards in Contemporary Art,” Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ
  “Self-Driving Car,” Miller Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
  “Read Between the Lines,” Katzen Art Center, Washington, DC
  “SIT STILL: photography, portraits, and doubling,” Revision Space, Pittsburgh, PA
• 2015 “Not There But Everywhere,” ACRE Projects, Chicago, IL
  “Vibrating Camouflage Night Animal Escort Orgy Picture Show,” Days Inn, Pittsburgh, PA
  “Intergalactic Human Immigration Office,” Open Engagement, Pittsburgh, PA
  “Truth or Dare,” Gallery 808, Pittsburgh, PA
• 2014 “LunarmagmaoceanLove,” NURTUREartGallery, New York
  “Blame My Parents,” Assemble, Pittsburgh
  “Sweet Nothings,” The Chocolate Moose, Pittsburgh
  “Drowning in a Sea of Information,” Work: Ann Arbor, Michigan
  “Side by Side,” The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh
  “Day of the Painter,” Boom Concepts Gallery, Pittsburgh
  “Gross Domestic Product,” The Mine Factory, Pittsburgh
• 2013 “Phantom Impulse,” The Frame Gallery, Pittsburgh
  “Juan Media Festival,” Incheon Soccer Stadium, Incheon, South Korea
• 2012 “Cannibal Flower,” 1200 Hope St., Los Angeles, CA
  “People Against Violence Against People,” Pica Pica Gallery, Berlin
• 2011 “Chain Letter,” Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
  “Signs on the Road,” Winkleman Gallery, New York, NY
• 2008 “Art Showcase,” Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York
• 2007 “Preview Show,” Fine Arts Library, Ithaca, New York
  “Run Rabbit Run,” Hartel Gallery, Ithaca, New York
  “Nothing in Common,” Experimental Gallery, Ithaca, New York
• 2006 “Rome Exhibition,” Palazzo Lazzaroni, Rome, Italy
  “Art For The Mind,” Ribe Café, Rome, Italy
  “David R. Bean Exhibit,” Tjaden Gallery, Ithaca, New York

AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

• 2018 Fulbright Fellowship Recipient, Universität der Künste, Berlin, DE
  Brush Creek Artist Residency
  Anderson Ranch Artist-in-Residence Program
• 2017 Kala Media Arts Residency
  I-Park International Artist-in-Residence Program
  Kittredge Fund
  Pittsburgh Creative Development Grant
  Fountainhead Residency
  Willapa Bay AIR Residency
• 2016 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, Hamilton, NJ
  Lacawac Artist Residency
  GuSH Grant: Conference fund for CAA Conference, Pittsburgh, PA
• 2015 CAA Fellow Honorable Mention in the Visual Arts, College Art Association, New York, NY
  Frank-Ratchye Fund for Art @ the Frontier: Research fund for Thesis Exhibition, Pittsburgh, PA
  Ox-Bow Residency Award and Stipend, Saugatuck, MI
  Albert K. Murray Foundation Educational Fund, Pittsburgh, PA
  The Sprout Fund Seed Award Fund for Community Innovation in Pittsburgh: Research fund for Open Engagement, PA
• 2014 ACRE Residency
  Art Farm Nebraska Residency
  GuSH Research Grant
  FRFAF Microgrant
• 2011 p:142 Artist-in-Residence, Berlin (DE)
• 2008 Elsie Dinsmore Popkin Memorial Award, Ithaca, NY

ARTIST LECTURES / TALKS

• 2018 The Launchpad, Carbondale, CO
  Anderson Ranch, Snowmass Village, CO
  Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
• 2017 I-Park, East Haddam, CT
  SVA, New York City
  Bunker Projects, Pittsburgh, PA
• 2016 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
• 2015 SIX x ATE: Cut and Paste, Pittsburgh, PA
  Ox-Bow, Saugatuck, MI
• 2014 MFA Presentations, CFA Lecture Hall, Pittsburgh, PA
• 2013 OSHER Artist’s Talk, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
• 2012 Art Graduate Student Presentations, Doherty Hall, Pittsburgh, PA

Gallery