Published by Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf/Dancing Foxes Press. Edited by Eva Birkenstock. Text by Philipp Ekardt, Hendrik Folkerts, Philipp Gufler, Alvin Li, Rory Pilgrim, Adele Schlombs, Yung Ma, Arnisa Zeqo. Interview by Monika Baer, Eva Birkenstock, Henrik Olesen, Stewart Uoo.
This first comprehensive monograph on the work of China-born, Netherlands-based artist Evelyn Taocheng Wang (born 1981) unfolds along the path of her biography—beginning with her early studies in Chengdu, China, her arrival in 2008 in Berlin and Bleckede, Germany, from China, followed by a move to Frankfurt am Main to attend the Städel Academy as a guest student; time in Amsterdam at De Ateliers, Rotterdam; and, most recently, stays in Germany. Wang’s multimedia art—from painting to video—synthesizes themes of class, gender, fashion, cultural identity, art history and popular culture. The publication traces how the artist’s personal life experiences and encounters during these various stages interweave with her artistic research and practice. Richly illustrated, the book offers a comprehensive presentation of her drawings, paintings, collages, photography, video, narrative writing, installation, sewing and performance, set in dialogue with diverse text contributions by artist friends and colleagues. Essays by a range of writers expand on aspects of Wang’s work, including its narrative strategies, Western and East Asian art historical references, and its focus on cultural identity, political imagery and performance.
Published by After 8 Books. Edited by Antonia Carrara.
This volume gathers a collection of diary-like texts, posted in 2015 by Rotterdam-based Chinese artist Evelyn Taocheng Wang (born 1981) on her Facebook page, recording the aesthetic, intellectual and sentimental experiences she had as an undercover transgender masseuse in a massage parlor in Amsterdam. The vignette-like chapters retrace the daily routine at the parlor, incidents with clients and conversations with fellow workers, as well as personal reflections that deftly mix bursts of humor with moments of tension, poetical notes and an acute sense of observation. Through transcriptions of discussions between Chinese immigrant women working together, the author proposes an unconventional portrait of the Chinese diaspora. Inaccuracies of language are an integral part of the narrative. A series of watercolors by Taocheng Wang accompanies and illustrates the texts, interpreting her work anecdotes in colorful visions.
Evelyn Taocheng Wang: Unintended Experience