FRIEZE SEOUL 2025 Christine Tien Wang: BDSM

An avid observer of contemporary digital culture and its speculative economies of boom-bust cycles, US-born painter Christine Tien Wang meticulously documents and explores diverse themes such as millennial diaspora anxieties and the recent volatility of the bitcoin bubble through the most diffusive yet persistent ephemera of our times: memes. In 'Christine Tien Wang: BDSM (Bitcoin Daddies Seek Memes),' Wang's first solo fair presentation in Asia, PTT Space will stage a selection of recent works in a new site-specific installation that continues Wang's sardonic critique and celebration of late capital and the messy vibrance of the art market.

This presentation will feature paintings of internet memes by Wang that will form a larger installation in the stand space. A pair of acrylic paintings reflecting the tensions of diasporic parenting hangs between two facing walls, painted the same shade of green as a special effects green-screen. This flanks a larger oil and acrylic painting mounted on a TV-stand of a newscast screenshot of Trump and Elon sitting inside the new Tesla with giant news captions "Everything is Computer" against a vinyl wall-sticker of a stock flame imagery; a smaller acrylic painting on the floor; and a selection of tubular vegetables velcro-ed to the floor.

As a second-generation Taiwanese-American artist raised in American culture, Christine Tien Wang explores the clash of traditional Asian values in Western society and the identity and cultural struggles of Taiwanese-Americans. Her unique perspective offers valuable insights into understanding contemporary American society. This artistic expression, rooted in a dual cultural background, makes her work stand out in the global art scene.

In a digital age that pursues instant, fleeting consumption, Wang chooses the "slower" medium of painting to resist these "fast" societal conditions. With a sharp yet humorous perspective, she gets to the core of mainstream global phenomena. Whether it's modern society's over-reliance on information and authority, the challenges of being a labeled Taiwanese-American immigrant, or the anxieties brought on by digital capitalism, her work becomes an outlet for collective anxiety and vitality, deeply resonating with the public.

Wang is one of the few artists who can so closely connect the Taiwanese immigrant experience with the pulse of contemporary society. Her art offers a window for Taiwan to understand the complex identity of the diaspora. Her work also helps re-shape how identity is re-interpreted in a Western context and reflects the rich diversity of Asian artists in the process of globalization. In doing so, her work highlights the value of art in fostering cross-cultural dialogue and plays a critical role in global cultural exchange.