EUGENE TANG: AWKWARD INTIMACY
March 23 - April 13 / Opening event March 23, 5 - 9 pm
Viewing information here
Tang’s practice spans photography, video, and installation to explore intimate encounters and unconventional relationships that meld his personal life with those of his subjects. This exhibition — Tang’s first solo exhibition in the U.S. — will feature a new installation of photographs and videos from two recent series 身體髮膚 Your Bodies Are From Parents and MSG. In MSG Tang photographs himself with anonymous men he meets on Grindr, while confronting anxieties about being stereotyped by his race. In the video installation, 身體髮膚 Your Bodies Are From Parents, Tang invites his parents to photograph him naked, opening a new dimension of intimacy, tension, and care in his familial dynamics.
ARTIST BIO
Eugene I-Peng Tang (湯翊芃), a Taiwanese artist based in Chicago, explores themes of intimate encounters and unconventional relationships in his work. Melding his own persona with those of his subjects, he navigates the perception of his "seemingly" youthful Asian body and his body in relation to others, offering insight into an experience of alienation within the gay community in the West. Tang emphasizes the dynamic nature of the art-making process, integrating performance into his photography and video installations. Influenced by a background in anthropology and filmmaking, he draws from the fields of relational aesthetics and queer studies, infusing his work with personal experiences and desire.
Tang's accolades include the National Fund(GSSA) awarded by the Taiwanese Ministry of Education (2023-2024), a residency at the Institut Für Alles Mögliche in Berlin (2023), an Ox-Bow Scholarship, the Jim Zanzi Scholarship (2022), and the Daniel Berger & Barbara DeGenevieve Graduate Merit Scholarship (2021). He has also been honored with the Vicinity Juror’s 1st Award at Perspective Gallery and the SAIC Student Leadership Award (2023). Additionally, Tang co-authored the book Grandma's Girlfriends - the Splendid Youth of Elder Lesbians (阿媽的女朋友：彩虹熟女的多彩青春), which was awarded 'Best Daily Book of the Year' at the Openbook Award Taiwan (2020).
