Zadie Xa

Zadie Xa (born 1983) is a Korean-Canadian visual artist[1] who combines sculpture, painting, light, sound, and performance to create immersive multi-media experiences. Drawing inspiration from fields such as ecology, science fiction, and ancient religions, her work explores how beings imagine and inhabit their worlds. Her work is centered on otherness and is informed by personal experience within the Korean diaspora, as well as by environmental and cultural contexts of the Pacific Northwest.[2][3]

Zadie Xa
Born1983 (age 39–40)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
EducationMA in Painting, Royal College of Art, 2014; BFA, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, 2007
Known forArtist
Websitehttps://www.zadiexa.com/

Xa's work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions at numerous galleries in Canada, the United States, and Europe, including Serpentine Gallery in London, UK; Palais de Tokyo, in Paris, France; Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver, British Columbia; and Remai Modern in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, among others.[4][5] Xa's work is also in the holdings of the permanent collection at The Box, Plymouth (previously the Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery).[6]

In addition, Xa has been a participant in the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019, the 13th Shanghai Biennale in 2020, and Frieze Live 2020.[7][8]

In 2020, Xa was a recipient of the Sobey Art Award, Canada's largest prize for young Canadian artists.[9]

Early life and education

Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Xa is now based in London, United Kingdom.

Xa earned an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art in 2014 and a BFA at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (now the Emily Carr University of Art + Design) in 2007.

Work

Xa's visual and performance work is inspired by street style, music videos, quilting techniques, and traditional clothing, among other sources, and frequently references the performing arts, religion, and folklore of Korea. The primary method Xa uses in her work as a visual artist is collage and assemblage, in which she cuts, layers, and pastes different elements and media to create a new work.[3]

In 2018, following her participation as a solo artist in the Frieze Art Fair that year, the Contemporary Art Society’s Collections Fund at Frieze acquired a cloak and mask related to Xa's performance practice. The work was purchased along with the first film installation of American artist Kehinde Wiley. Both acquisitions were donated to The Box Plymouth (previously the Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery), located in Plymouth, Devon, UK, to be part of the museum and art gallery's permanent collection.[6][10]

Select works

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Performances
  • 2021: Scorpion, in collaboration with Benito Mayor Vallejo, National Gallery London, UK[15]
  • 2020: Dream Dangerous, in collaboration with Benito Mayor Vallejo, Jia-Yu Corti, and Ophelia Liu, Frieze Live 2020: The Institute of Melodic Healing, London, UK[16][17]
  • 2019-2020: Grandmother Mago, at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada and the Venice Biennial's “Meetings on Art” performance program, Venice, Italy[7][18][19]
    • This work explores a fictional grandmother-shaman figure and is influenced by talchum, a traditional Korean mask dance.[20][21]
  • 2018: Flooded with ICE/Hellfire Can't Scorch Me, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Center, UK[22]
  • 2018: Iridezcent Interludez, “Do Disturb 2018”, Palais de Tokyo, Paris[2]

Awards

Sobey Art Award

Xa was nominated for the Sobey Art Award in 2020 and was on the longlist as a representative of the West Coast and Yukon region (other geographic categories for the Sobey Art Award include the Prairies and North, Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic). That year, the program award fund was equally awarded to 25 finalists, including Xa, Joseph Tsiga, Sara Cwynar, Caroline Monnet, and Jordan Bennett, among others.[9]

References
  1. Society, Contemporary Art (2018-09-27). "Zadie Xa". Contemporary Art Society. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
  2. "Zadie Xa". Remai Modern. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  3. 100 Sculptors of Tomorrow. London: Thames & Hudson. 2019. p. 268. ISBN 9780500021477.
  4. "Saturdays Live: Zadie Xa, Linguistic Legacies and Lunar Exploration". Serpentine Galleries. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  5. "Interior Infinite". The Polygon. 2021-05-11. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  6. Society, Contemporary Art (2018-10-03). "CAS acquires work by Kehinde Wiley and Zadie Xa at Frieze Art Fair for a new museum in Plymouth". Contemporary Art Society. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  7. "Meetings on Art - program of performances and talks during 58th Venice Biennale". Biennial Foundation. 2019-04-30. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  8. Solomon, Tessa (2021-04-02). "With an Eye Toward Ecological Disaster, Shanghai Biennale Names Artists for 2021 Edition". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  9. "SOBEY ART AWARD – ARTISTS 2020". National Gallery of Canada. 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  10. "'Not Only Thought-Provoking But Visually Exciting'". Retrieved 2022-03-25.
  11. "Press Release: The Polygon Gallery Presents Interior Infinite". The Polygon. 2021-05-20. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
  12. "13th Shanghai Biennale: Bodies of Water - Announcements - e-flux". www.e-flux.com. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  13. Solomon, Tessa (2021-04-02). "With an Eye Toward Ecological Disaster, Shanghai Biennale Names Artists for 2021 Edition". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  14. "Zadie Xa: The Word for Water is Whale". Whitechapel Gallery. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  15. 'Scorpion' by Zadie Xa and Benito Mayor Vallejo | National Gallery, retrieved 2022-03-24
  16. "LIVE: Zadie Xa and Benito Mayor Vallejo, Dream Dangerous | | Galleries | Frieze". www.frieze.com. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  17. "Watch Now: Zadie Xa & Benito Mayor Vallejo, Dream Dangerous". Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  18. "A march of matriarchs". Art Gallery of Ontario. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  19. Prata, Rosie (January 27, 2020). "Art Trip: Zadie Xa uses her work to investigate hybrid identity, matrilineal knowledge and the Asian diaspora: Zadie Xa, born in Vancouver and now based in London, is one of six artists in the group exhibition Feedback Loops". The Globe and Mail (Online). Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  20. Xiang, Joy. "Zadie Xa's Self-Mythologies in Venice". Canadian Art. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
  21. Jacques, Juliet. "Portals". Canadian Art. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
  22. Fabrique. "Hayward Gallery: Lee Bul". KCCUK. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
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