Tishan Hsu

"Study for Portrait", 1982

Graphite and color pencil on paper

11 x 14 inches (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Selected by Olivia Shao

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Hsu’s early years were in Zurich, Switzerland, and Ohio, Wisconsin, Virginia and New York, U.S. Hsu had his first one-person show as a teenager in Roanoke, Virginia, where his paintings were exhibited in museums throughout the region. He received his B.S.A.D in 1973 and M.Arch in 1975 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While at MIT, he also studied film and photography at the Carpenter Center, Harvard University. Hsu has resided in New York since 1979. His first exhibition in New York was at Pat Hearn Gallery, and in 1987, he had one-person show at Leo Castelli Gallery and an exhibition at the Carnegie University Art Gallery, Pittsburgh. Since 1985, Hsu has shown extensively in the US, Europe, Mexico and Asia, with works in many public and private collections. From 1988-90, Hsu lived and worked in Cologne, Germany and from 2014-16 in Shanghai, China.

Hsu’s survey exhibition, Liquid Circuit, opened at SculptureCenter in 2020, following its first iteration at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. In 2021, his work was included in the 13th Gwangju Biennale, Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning; TECHNO at Museion, Bolza no, Italy; Zeros + Ones at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin. In 2022, his work was included in the 59th Venice Biennale: The Milk of Dreams, and in the 58th Carnegie International, Pittsburgh: Is it morning for you yet? His recent work was on view at the Secession, Vienna during winter 2023/2024; and his first European survey exhibition was held at MAMCO, Geneva.