Adrian Wong: Communiqués from the Rainbow Bridge, Part 2

Carrie Secrist Gallery is pleased to announce Chicago-based artist Adrian Wong's solo exhibition with the gallery: Crossing The Rainbow Bridge.

Animal communication is a relatively new field of study, aimed at translating the behavior of animals to a language per se - thus allowing humans to predict and more deeply understand the motives and affective lives of non-human species. This has been applied not only to animals in their natural habitats, i.e. in the wild, but also to domesticated animals living alongside humans. Some fringe practitioners in the field have postulated that the modus of such communication takes place telepathically and at least partially on a plane of "pure consciousness" that can be accessed through concentration qua meditative focus, and further, that such communication can take place even after the animal spirit has left its corporeal form. Fascinated by the growing literature on the subject, Adrian Wong has pushed the boundaries of what is possible through the methods of animal communicators - from a wide range of schools, and spiritual and cultural backgrounds-to create the works assembled in Crossing The Rainbow Bridge.

Adrian Wong's installations, videos, and sculptures draw from varied subjects and explore the intricacies of his relationship to his environment (experientially, historically, culturally, and through the filter of fantastical or fictionalized narratives). These organic and open-ended artifacts of his process often involve a collaborative engagement with subjects.

Wong was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois in 1980. Originally trained in psychology (Stanford MA, 2003), he began making and exhibiting work in San Francisco while concurrently conducting research in developmental linguistics. He continued his post-graduate studies in sculpture (Yale MFA, 2005). Wong relocated his studio to Hong Kong in 2005, but recently returned to Chicago, where he currently teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been exhibited at The Drawing Center (New York), Kuandu Museum (Taipei), Kunsthalle Wien, Kunstmuseum Bern, Kunstverein (Hamburg), Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul), Palazzo Reale (Milan), Saatchi Gallery (London), and Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art (Rotterdam)-and can be found in public and private collections worldwide, including the DSL Foundation Collection (Paris), K11 Art Foundation (Shanghai), Kadist Foundation (San Francisco), M+ Museum (Hong Kong), Sifang Museum (Nanjing), and the Uli Sigg Collection (Lucerne).

If you would like a preview of the work included in Crossing The Rainbow Bridge, please emailthe gallery.

Image: Adrian Wong