Adrian Wong
The Rainbow Bridge
19 April – 22 May 2015
ltd los angeles
7561 Sunset Blvd #103
Los Angeles, CA 90046
ltd los angeles is pleased to present Adrian Wong’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. 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 The Rainbow Bridge.
For Communiqués From the Rainbow Bridge I-VIII, Wong recruited a team of 25 animal communicators and mediums with whom he has been attempting to open up a channel of communication with a triceratops skull for the past year. Given access to this rare paleontological find in 2013, this work is the result to date of his efforts to assemble the prehistoric beast's memoirs across various reincarnations over the past 65 million years.Telepathically Designed Bespoke Rabbit Warrens I-IIare two architectures built to the specifications of a Netherland Dwarf and Miniature Rex rabbit, under the supervision of a structural engineer. And The Glorious Phoenix—a collaboration with Shane Aspegren—is a detailed recounting and performative restaging of an actual pet séance that took place in 2012. The works are presented alongside an ongoing series of lenticular compositions, inspired by the spirits of the long-dead animals they depict.
Adrian Wong was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois in 1980. Originally trained in research psychology, receiving a Master’s degree from Stanford University in 2003. He received an MFA from Yale University in 2005. Relying heavily on a research based method, his 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). Wong has been based in Hong Kong since 2005. Wong, the recipient of the 2013-2014 Sovereign Asian Art Prize, is the co-founder and director of Embassy Projects, an arts consultancy and independent production studio. His recent exhibitions include the exhibition “Troglodyte See the Light,” “A Passion for Creation” for the Louis Vuitton Fondation pour la Création, and “Hong Kong Eye” at the Saatchi Gallery. His videos have screened at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Bangkok Experimental Film Festival, and Kunsthalle Wien. His work is included in the Uli Sigg Collection (Lucerne), the Dominique and Sylvain Levy Collection (Paris), the Kadist Foundation Collection(San Francisco), Hong Kong Museum of Art (Hong Kong), M+ Museum Collection (Hong Kong), and various private collections.
* Images are courtesy of ltd los angeles and photographed by James McLane