Richard Streitmatter-Tran
We No Longer See the Stars
Content
Installations & artworks
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Biography ... 28-29 Artist CV ... 30-33
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DE SARTHE | Hong Kong
In Constellations (2019), Streitmatter-Tran juxtaposes facial pattern recognition matrices with the lattices of I.M. Pet’s iconic Bank of China building in Hong Kong – an immediately recognizable piece of architecture within the city. By drawing connections between the visual similarities of structures and systems, the artist elucidates how the physical attributes of our surrounding environment relate to architectures of surveillance and power.
Richard Streitmatter-Tran | We No Longer See the Stars
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Richard Streitmatter-Tran Constellations 2019 Acrylic on canvas with embedded LED Diptych 120 x 90 each
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DE SARTHE | Hong Kong
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DE SARTHE | Hong Kong
One of the most prominent series in the exhibition is
The second, titled A Black
comprised of two works. The
Hole (2020), is a sculpture
first, titled Between the
combining the components of
North Star and a Black Hole
a parabolic satellite dish
(2020), is an array of books
with that of an ubiquitous
encased in clear acrylic
umbrella, coated in ultra-black
mounted across the wall, the
paint that absorbs light.
topics of which range from a
Seemingly a black hole from
variety of disciplines includ-
afar, the sculpture reveals
ing philosophy, anthropology,
its physical form as visitors
art theory and more.
step around it.
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Richard Streitmatter-Tran A Black Hole 2020 Satellite dish, umbrella handle, ultra black paint 180 x 180 x 165 cm
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DE SARTHE | Hong Kong
Richard Streitmatter-Tran | We No Longer See the Stars
Richard Streitmatter-Tran Between the North Star and a Black Hole 2020 Books, acrylic boxes Dimensions variable
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DE SARTHE | Hong Kong
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The pairing of these two works represents forever existing, yet not mutually exclusive, oppositions – the filling and purging of information. While visitors are free to pick whichever book, if any, to withdraw from its case, the presented options are limited to a fixed spectrum, and thus so is the information they provide. Though the center of the satellite is visually obscured, its tangible evidence is also undeniable. Is the
seemingly endless abundance of information our digital era has provided a liberating force or a guised farce? By juxtaposing two modified tools for communication, one of traditional means and the other symbolic of advanced information technologies, the artist urges us to consider the potential undercurrents of information exchange and asks us to evaluate the legitimacy of our knowledge and further, what is the future of information?
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DE SARTHE | Hong Kong
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DE SARTHE | Hong Kong
Richard Streitmatter-Tran Bless the Beasts and the Children 2019 Acrylic on canvas 150 x 100 cm each
Richard Streitmatter-Tran | We No Longer See the Stars
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In a new series of paintings titled, Bless the Beasts and the Children (2019-20), freestanding portraits of people of various ethnicities dressed in black are propped throughout the gallery. As visitors
youth struggle in a pyrrhic
weave through the space, they
battle against preordained
are forced to confront the
defeat, the series speaks to
unwavering gaze of the painted
the universal tenacity of
subjects. Titled after the 1971
human will in the face of
film, in which a group of
conflict. Positioned in a front-facing formation, the figures stand in a field of echoed silence.
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DE SARTHE | Hong Kong
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A six-screen installation is centered on the wall behind the standing portraits, in which visitors see a live video feed of themselves moving through the gallery. The interactive installation Face Off (2020) utilizes facial recognition software that perpetually scans for faces, emulating the omnipresent surveillance technologies employed by the public and private sectors. As if stumbling onto unknown footage of oneself, the installation forces the alarming realization that we are constantly under observation, with our identities perpetually digitized, and transformed into two-dimensional portraiture with the rest of the paintings in the space.
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DE SARTHE | Hong Kong
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Richard Streitmatter-Tran Face Off 2020 Six-screen installation, mac computer, light, desk, chair, hat Dimensions variable
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DE SARTHE | Hong Kong
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DE SARTHE | Hong Kong
28 Biography
Richard Streitmatter-Tran was born in 1972 in Bien Hoa, Vietnam. He received his degree in the Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM) at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. For the first decade of his career Richard’s artwork could be described as strictly conceptual, but after 2013 he began to focus on producing artwork that required a meticulous level of fine craftsmanship. As a result, his current body of work is both rooted in the conceptual rigor of contemporary art theory and the skills behind traditional techniques. His recent solo and collaborative work has been exhibited internationally including Setouchi Triennale, Awashima Island, Japan (2019); Manufacturing Creativity, curated by Dr. Jane Gavin with University of Sydney and Unesco, Museum of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (2019); Thailand Biennale, Thailand (2018); Prophilia, SPRMRKT, Singapore (2018); Departures, de Sarthe, Hon Kong (2017); Perjalanan Senyap / A Quiet Journey, curated by Rifky Effendi, Orbital Dago, Bandung, Indonesia (2017); Material Relations: Continuity and Innovation in Lacquer and Silk Painting, Vin Gallery, Art Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2017); Mekong - New Mythologies, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong (2017); Odyssey: Navigating Nameless Seas, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2016); 2nd Jakarta Contemporary Ceramics Biennale, Indonesia (2016); Secret Archipeligo, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2015); Doubt and Believe: Exhibition of Nguyen Son and R. StreitmatterTran, Vietnamese Women’s Art Museum, Hanoi, Vietnam (2013); Panorama: Recent Art from Contemporary Asia, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2012); Art Domain Migration: ASEAN and China, 4th Guangzhou Triennial, China (2011); Institution for the Future, Asia Triennial Manchester, United Kingdom (2011); FAX, Para/site Art Space, Hong Kong (2010); TransportASIAN: Photography from Southeast Asia, Singapore Art Museum (2009); Wonder, Singapore Biennale, Singapore (2008); Migration Addicts, 52nd Venice Biennale Collateral Events, Italy (2007) and Thermocline of Art - New Asian Waves, ZKM: Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany (2007).
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His work can be found in numerous publications worldwide and is in private and public collections including the Singapore Art Museum, The Documenta Archives, RMIT University Vietnam Art Collection, 21st Century Museum Hotels, IILM Art Collection and Post-Vidai Collection. He was an advisor to the Para / Site Curatorial Programme in Hong Kong and the San Art Artist Residency program in Ho Chi Minh City. From 2006 to 2015 he was the Senior Lecturer at RMIT International University Vietnam. Richard was an artist in residency at the NTC Centre of Contemporary Art (CCA) in Singapore in 2017. Richard has also been an arts correspondent for the Madrid-based magazine Art.Es and the Ho Chi Minh City editor for the magazine Contemporary. He has published in several books, catalogs and journals. In 2005 he received the Martell Contemporary Asian Art Research Grant from the Asia Art Archive in Hong Kong for his yearlong research project, Mediating the Mekong. He was a Teaching Assistant at Harvard University (2000-2004), conducted media arts research at the MIT Media Lab (2000) and a visiting lecturer at the Ho Chi Minh Fine Arts University in 2003-2004. Richard lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
DE SARTHE | Hong Kong
30 Artist CV Richard Streitmatter-Tran b.1972 born in Bien Hoa, Vietnam Currently works and lives in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 2003 2009
B.F.A. Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM), Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, USA Certificate in Tertiary teaching, RMIT International University Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Solo Exhibitions 2020 2018 2017 2015 2013 2009 2004
We No Longer See the Stars, de Sarthe, Hong Kong, China The Reconstruction, Bangkok University Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand Prophilia, SPRMRKT, Singapore Departures, de Sarthe, Hong Kong, China A Material History of Man and Animal, Dia Projects, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Material Turn, Art Space Hue, Paja, Korea Where There is Left, Let There Be Right, Kandada Art Space, Tokyo, Japan Body Frame/ Video Frame, L’espace-French Cultural Center of Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam
Selected Group Exhibitions 2019
2018
Setouchi Triennale, Awashima Island, Japan Recent Paintings From the Worcester Art Museum Residency, Midway Artist Studios, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Tropical/Temperate, Worcester Pop Up, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA HRH Princess Sirindhorn Art Gallery, Silpakorn University, Arcade, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand Manufacturing Creativity, curated by Dr. Jane Gavin with University of Sydney and Unesco, Museum of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam DISINI 2018, Gillman Barracks, Singapore Thailand Biennale Krabi 2018, Krabi, Thailand
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2008
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Out of Track, Lawangwangi Creative Space, Bandung, Indonesia The Decoy of Indra, curated by Charuwan Chanthop / 1 Projects, Art Stage Singapore Marterial Relations: Continuity and Innovation in Lacquer and Silk Painting, Vin Gallery, Art Kaohsiung, Taiwan Perjalanan Senyap / A Quiet Journey, curated by Rifky Effendi, Orbital Dago, Bandung, Indonesia Mekong - New Mythologies, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong, China Odyssey: Navigating Nameless Seas, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore 2016 Sovereign Art Prize Finalists Exhibition, Christie’s Hong Kong, Hong Kong , China The 2nd Jakarta Contemporary Ceramics Biennale, Indonesia Secret Archipelago, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France A Beautiful New World, curated by Eleonora Battiston, 2nd Nanjing International Art Festival, Nanjing, China Eagles Fly, Sheep Flock: Biographical Imprints—Artistic Practices in Southeast Asia, curated by Khim Ong, Art Stage Singapore, Singapore Doubt and Believe: Exhibition of Nguyen Son and R. StreitmatterTran, Vietnamese Women’s Museum, Hanoi, Vietnam Panorama: Recent Art from Contemporary Asia, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore Video, An Art, A History 1965-2010: A Selection from the Centre Pompidou and Singapore Art Museum Collections, Singapore Art Museum Institution for the Future, Asia Triennial Manchester, United Kingdom Independent Art Project: Art Domain Migration, ASEAN and China, The Forth Guangzhou Triennial, Guangzhou, China Emerging Wave: ASEAN-Korea Contemporary Photography Exhibition, Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul and GoEun Museum of Photography, Busan, Korea FAX, Para Site Art Space, Hong Kong, China TransportASIAN: Photography from Southeast Asia, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore Time Ligaments: Contemporary Vietnamese Art, curated by Zoe M. Butt and Ding Q. Le, 10 Chancery Lane, Hong Kong, China Wonder, 2nd Singapore Biennale, Singapore
DE SARTHE | Hong Kong
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2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
Post-Doi Moi: Vietnamese Modern and Contemporary Art in Southest Asia, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore The Jungle Performance, Asiatopia Performance Art Festival – 10th Anniversary, Bangkok, Thailand Migration Addicts, 52nd Venice Biennale, Collateral Events, Venice, Italy Thermocline of Art: New Asian Waves, ZKM: Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany PRANA: Art, Light, Space, The Art Center, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand Exquisite Crisis and Encounters, curated by Yong Soon Min, Asia/ Pacific/American Institute, New York University, New York, USA Les Mois de L’image, Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Belief. A.Art and L/Z, Singapore Biennale 2006, Singapore Reflow. The Loudest Sound, Java Art Gallery, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Globalization and Locality, Asia Art Now 2006, Arario Beijing, Beijing, China Globalization and Locality, Asia Art Now 2006, SSamzie Space, Seoul, South Korea 600 Images, Six City Exhibition in Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, London, Los Angeles, and Berlin 7th Asiatopia Performance Art Festival, Queen’s Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand 1st Pochean Asian Art Festival, Pocheon, South Korea Offside, curated by Brian Duggan, The Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin, Ireland Surreal Politik, Gallery Without Walls, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Chúng Ta Là Ai, Land of Milk and Honey, Lawrence S. Ting Building Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Gwangju Biennale 2005, Gwuangju, South Korea Missed Connections, Net Video Lab, Art Network Asia, Singapore Orange Lounge, Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA), Newport Beach, California, USA Young Vietnamese Artists Exhibition, Bing Quoi Park, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Fra, Evos Arts, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA Mobius 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Mobius Art Space, Boston, Massachusetts, USA KY UC, Bakalar Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston
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2001
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Massachusetts, USA How Not to Speak, Studio for Interrelated Media, Massachusetts College of Art Boston, Massachusetts, USA Topology/Topography: Issues in Surveillance Spaces, Berwick Research Institute, Roxbury, Massachusetts, USA Culture Clubbing, Tremont Gallery, Boston Massachusetts, USA Interrogative Design Workshop, MIT Visual Arts Department, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Fundamentals of Computational Media Group Exhibition, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge Massachusetts, USA
Awards 2 0 1 6 2 0 1 2 2 0 1 0 2008 2005 2003 2000
Finalist, Sovereign Art Prize, Hong Kong, China Alumni Award for Oustanding Creative Achievement, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Asia Society Asia 21 Young Leader & Delegate, Jakarta, Indonesia Teacher of the Year Award, RMIT University, Vietnam Recipient, Martell Contemporary Asia Art Research Grant, Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong, China Recipeint, Ron Plazeck Theater Arts Award, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Recipeint, Roy H. Brown Scholarship, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Public Collections documenta Archives, Kassel, Germany Leo Shih, Taiwan The Signapore Art Museum, Singapore IILM Art Collection, Gurgaon/ New Delhi, India RMIT University Vietnam Collection, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Post Vidai Collection, Switzerland & Vietnam
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