Today we’d like to introduce you to Yahan Wang.
Hi Yahan, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m Yahan Wang, currently based in New York. I’m born and raised in Wuhan, China. I came to the United States for school when I was 16. I went to Sarah Lawrence College for my undergrad study and all art-related parts of me started from there. My concentration was a combination of economics and arts. It was always such an excitement to be able to see the artwork in person in New York after a fresh discussion in an art history class. The studio art courses I took at Sarah Lawrence were the start for me to explore making digital art, motion graphics, and interactive video.
My academic study at Sarah Lawrence is the foundation and lead for me to generate curiosity on what the work side of art looks like. I started doing internships in different organizations, including the museum, an art fair, and an art consulting company. A project I participated in during one of my internships with an art consulting company in New York let me find the precious joy of connecting artists and artworks with spaces and people who find the match and sincerely appreciate being connected. Being the liaison between art and other spheres of society is something I wanted to pursue and will keep exploring doing in art.
Brought along the inspiration and motivation I found through my experiences at undergrad study and internships, I decided to pursue a master’s degree study in Visual Arts Administration program at New York University. From then on, I was more determined on developing my path as an art administrator and art professional in the art industry. Now I’m working at artnet. I’m grateful that I’m able to work with top experts, talents, and clients. It’s such a privilege to be able to learn about how the art market functions on a daily basis. Gaining a better understanding of the art market can help me to better understand what role I could play in liaising art and other spheres of society moving forward. I would say I’m and will keep exploring being a ‘multitasker’ in the art industry who can curate, consult, design, and connect.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Exploring different sections of art is a smooth way for me. I’m grateful that I’m lucky enough to go to schools in New York and be able to access all kinds of art in the city. Challenges I faced were the determination of which direction I want to go within the art and how to transfer something I have a huge interest in into a career and a job on a daily basis. I could be hesitant about what shall be next in my career or life, but I believe every step and experience you have always counted and will naturally lead you to something next or something new!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I curated an exhibition called Ways of Seeing with Museum 54, an online platform for emerging artists this March. The exhibition showcased works by six emerging female artists and spotlighted more than 20 pieces of artwork in painting, drawing, video, photography, and installation. This exhibition examines the multi-layered meanings behind female identities and bodies, with an invitation for open dialogue from the audience.
I’m thankful that I can have this opportunity to curate an exhibition within a theme that I always have been interested in exploring more. Female artists have gained increased attention in the art market these years. We are very lucky to have a chance to work with six talented emerging female artists whose works share the commonality that shows their fantasy, drama, and inner side of themselves from a proactive female perspective. It’s a show with storytelling that we invite male and other gender audiences to see, feel, and understand the way female artists express themselves.
It’s still a learning process for me when it comes to details on artwork selection, installation, and marketing about the exhibition, etc., but it’s truly worth all the hard work when we see audiences from different gender and age enjoy every single piece and has the curiosity to learn more about a specific artist or interests in collecting the work.
I would also stress my favorite series of my digital work: Glitch It, which is composed of two sets Red and Portrait. Glitch It explored glitch aesthetics and how the glitch culture challenges the idea of ‘perfect design’ in most digital media production. The glitch aesthetics embrace unpredictability, irregularity, and the potential of accidental performance. I want these images to produce new ways for viewers to use and perceive an image through technologies and machines. In most of my digital works, I embrace the randomness and irregularity brought by the machines but also try to achieve harmony and agreement in the composition.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I think I’m still far away from ‘success’, but I hope I can keep being hard-working, open-minded, and creative. I’m always curious and open to learning and accepting anything new to me.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yahanwangg/
Image Credits
Peishan Huang – Photographer to images of Ways of Seeing Exhibition views
