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Born in 1969 in Battambang, Cambodia
BIOGRAPHY
Sopheap Pich graduated with a BFA in Painting from the University of Massachusetts, then an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in 1999. He won the Ryerson Painting Award, presented by SAIC, in the same year.
When Pich returned to Cambodia in 2003, he imported two foreign ideas: art can be conceptual, and visual artists can work together to discuss these concepts. After producing his first solo exhibition of paintings, he established Saklapel (a play on salapak, the word for ‘art’ in the Khmer language), a group to promote contemporary Cambodian art practices. He co-curated Phnom Penh’s first post-Khmer Rouge art festival in 2005 called Visual Arts Open.
Pich experimented beyond painting in 2004, when he began to manipulate rattan and bamboo - materials ubiquitous to traditional Khmer farming and crafts - into large-scale organic forms that recalled body systems. By transposing an everyday, material into sculpture, he spoke to an emerging audience in a country where the notion of contemporary art was, and still is, largely unknown.
Since then, Pich’s technique and concepts have evolved organically as he becomes closer to both his medium and country. His 2007 solo show at H Gallery in Bangkok included the massive wave-like Tidal, a structure that references the plant life on Beung Kak Lake, the site of Pich’s studio and the site slated for eviction due to a recent government deal with a foreign developer.
2008 exhibitions include Strands at The Esplanade, Singapore and Strategies from Within, Ke Center for Contemporary Art, Shanghai. Pich was selected as Best of Discovery Artist at shContemporary in 2008. In 2009, he will represent Cambodia in the 4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial and the 6th Asia-Pacific Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT). Also in 2009, his first United States solo exhibition opens at Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York. Currently Pich is fabricating public commission projects for King Abdulla University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with Urban Art Projects, Queensland, Australia.
The Duel and the second edition of Cycle appear in Forever Until Now.
EDUCATION
1999
MFA in painting: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Chicago, USA.
1995
BFA in painting: The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA. 1993-94: Ecole National d’Art, Cergy Pontoise, France.
1993
Photographic exploration of Mayan ruins in Mexico and Guatemala (January).
1991
Painting workshop in Cannes, France; traveled to Italy (Summer).
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010
Fragile, French Cultural Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
2009
The Pulse Within, Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York.
2008
Strands, The Esplanade, Singapore.
2007
Recent Works From Kunming, TCG/Nordica, Kunming, China.
Tidal, H Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand.
Flow, Sala Artspace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
2006
Moha Saen Anett, Gallery Dong Xi, Vestfossen, Norway.
2005
Chomlak, sculptures and drawings, The Arts Lounge of Hotel de la Paix, Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Sculptures and Drawings, Amansara Resort, Siem Reap, Cambodia.
2004
Pdao, French Cultural Center Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
2003
Excavating the Vessels, Java Café and Gallery, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
2002
Recent works, The Brewery Studio, Boston, USA.
1997
Empty Wooden Cigarette Boxes From Cambodia, The Augusta Savage Gallery, Amherst, MA, USA.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011
Singapore Biennale 2011 Open House, National Museum of Singapore, Singapore
Here / Not Here: Buddha Presence in Eight Recent Works, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
2010
Classic Contemporary: Contemporary Southeast Asian Art from the Singapore Art Museum Collection, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore.
2009
The 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, Australia
Live and Let Live: Creators of Tomorrow, Fukuoka Triennial, Japan
Forever Until Now: Contemporary Art from Cambodia, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong.
2008
Different and Coexist: 1st Korean, USA and Japanese International Art Festival. ASTO Museum of Art, Wrightwood, CA. USA
Underlying, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos.
The Drawing Room, Rubies, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
2006
Paint Around the Dog, With Jack Bauer, Lake Studio, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
2+3+4 Cambodian/Vietnamese Exchange, Java Cafe and Gallery, Phnom Penh.
2005
Visual Arts Open, Elsewhere and New Art Gallery. Phnom Penh.
Transit With Michèle Vanvlasselaer, at Java Café & Gallery, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Première Vue , Passage de Retz, Paris, France.
Je/Jeu French Cultural Center, Yangon, Myanmar.
2004
Guide, French Cultural Center Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Continuity, Shinta Mani, Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Guide, French Cultural Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Meik Sratum, Silapak Khmer Amatak, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
2001
Subject Picture, The Optimistic, Chicago, USA.
2000
Just Good Art 2000, Hyde Park Arts Center, Chicago, USA.
Memory: Personal and Social Testimonies, the Augusta Savage, Gallery, UMASS, USA.
1999
Altered Object, Hyde Park Arts Center, Chicago, USA.
Young Talents II, Contemporary Arts Workshop, Chicago, USA.
MFA Thesis Exhibition, G2, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA.
Yellow/Face, Gallery Pilson East, Chicago, USA.
Cows on Parade, a collaborative project with J. Zakin and S. Biggers for The Chicago Park District exhibited at the Field Museum Campus, Chicago, USA.
1998
Presidential Dinner Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago, USA.
1997
Empty Wooden Cigarette Boxes From Cambodia, The Augusta Savage Gallery, USA.
1995
Recent Paintings, Gallery Del Sol, Miami, USA.
BFA Thesis Show, The Augusta Savage Gallery, UMASS, USA.
RESIDENCIES
2007
TCG/Nordica, Kunming, China. Two months partial fellowship (Nov-Jan).
2006
Galleri Dong Xi, Vestfossen, Norway. Two months full fellowship (June-August).
2005
Hotel De la Paix, Siem Reap, Cambodia. One month full fellowship.
2001
The Vermont Studio Center, Vermont, USA. One month full fellowship (October).
AWARDS
1999
The Ryerson Painting Award. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. USA
1990-94
The Wilbur Ward Scholarship, Umass, USA.
1993
Junior & Senior show, Exposition d'Arts Européens.
1992
Foundation show, Umass, USA.
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