Wenjun Chen is an interdisciplinary artist working on new media, focusing on exploring the mixed relationship between real and virtual. His work involves the fields of self-identity, internet and technology, data and personal data. Born in China, he is currently based in New York City. He was a self-taught photographer and received an MFA from the Digital and Interdisciplinary Art Practice Program at the City College of New York.
His works were selected for the More Art Engaging Artists Fellowship, Loop Art Critique Residency, and the White Columns Curated Artist Registry, USA. He was also a finalist for the Dummy Award Kassel 2016, Germany, and the 8th Three Shadows Photography Award 2016, China. He received the Taipei Photo Emerging Photographers' Award 2016, Taiwan, and the XITEK EOS New Talent Award 2015, China. His works have been exhibited in China, the USA, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, the UK, France, and Germany, among others. His works are collected by the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung Foundation, Germany; the Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum, China; the China Port Museum, China; and individual collectors in China and Germany.
His recent work is a self-exploration based on his personal data with internet-based technologies, utilizing the web, video, virtual reality, and installation. He is using keywords from his memories shared online and figures of his health data captured by his smartwatch to reconstruct himself through virtual avatars, a story of his growth, and new bodies in which to hold these avatars and stories. This also reflects his identity as a newcomer from China, migrating to an open new world that blends analog and digital.
Awards, Residencies, Fellowships and Honors
2024 More Art Engaging Artists Fellowship, New York, NY, USA
2023 Loop Art Critique Residency, Mud Foundation, Online/Miami, FL, USA (juried by Lorna Mills)
2022 White Columns Curated Artist Registry, New York, NY, USA
2016 Taipei Photo Emerging Photographers' Award, Taipei, Taiwan
2016 Dummy Award Kassel, Shortlist, Kassel, Germany
2016 Three Shadows Photography Award, Finalist, Beijing, China
2015 XITEK EOS New Talent Award, Shanghai, China
2010 Xu Xiaobing Photography Exhibition Outstanding Works of Art, Tongxiang, Zhejiang, China
Exhibitions
2024 Maritime Echoes: The Story of Stone, Taikoo Hui, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
2024 Wenjun II, /virtu.all, All Street Gallery, Online/New York, NY, USA
2023 Media Under Dystopia Wisper edition: A Public XR Metaverse, Loop Art Critique, Mud Foundation, Online/Miami, FL, USA
2023 Passage, K.L.8 exhibition space, Jette, Belgium
2023 Screen Deep, Loop Art Critique, Lynn University NFT Museum, Boca Raton, FL, USA (curated by Ariel Baron-Robbins)
2023 Visual Verses, Loop Art Critique, Mud Foundation, Online/Miami, FL, USA
2023 Design in Flux, West Harlem Art Fund, New York, NY, USA
2021 Wild Horses, Sim Smith Gallery, London, UK
2018 The Family of No Man, Cosmos Arles 2018, Arles, France
2018 Me and Me, 17th DongGang International Photo Festival, Yeongwol, Korea
2017 Me and Me, Les Rencontres De La Photographie, Arles, France
2017 Me and Me, Lishui Photography Festival, Lishui, Zhejiang, China
2017 Wandering Through Guangzhou After 2000 years, The Port and the Image Project: Documenting China’s Harbor Cities, China Port Museum, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
2017 Me and Me, 2nd Ningbo International Photography Week, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
2017 Me and Me, LensCulture Winter Exhibition, Online
2016 Solo Exhibition, Me and Me, Ray Art Center, Shanghai, China
2016 Me and Me, Lianzhou Foto Festival, Lianzhou, Guangdong, China
2016 Me and Me, Shanghai Photofair, Shanghai, China
2016 Me and Me, Taipei Photo, Taipei, Taiwan
2016 Me and Me, Xitek New Talent Award, PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai, Shanghai, China
2016 Me and Me, 8. Fotobookfestival Kassel, Germany / Beijing, China; Fotoleggendo, Rome, Italy; PhotoIreland, Dublin, Ireland; Fotogalleriet, Oslo, Norway; Organ Vida Festival, Zagreb, Croatia; Month of Photography Festival, Bratislava, Slovakia; Encontros da Imagem, Braga, Portugal; Photobook Week, Aarhus, Denmark; Format Festival, Derby, UK
2016 Me and Me, Three Shadows Photography Award, Beijing/Xiamen, Fujian, China
2016 Me and Me, Xitek New Talent Award, Shanghai, China
2016 Me and Me, CONNECT: A Curated Group Exhibition of LensCulture Network Photographers, Online
2014 Solo Exhibition, Me and Me, Voutu Space, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
2013 En Ning, The Fence, Volume: Birmingham’s Art, Book, & Print Fair, Birmingham, UK
2013 En Ning, The Fence, From Print to Publishing: The Changing Role of the Book in China and the UK, Chinese Arts Center, Manchester, UK
2013 En Ning, Lishui Photography Festival, Lishui, Zhejiang, China
2012 En Ning, The Fence, Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, Japan
2010 People and the City, People in the City, Xu Xiaobing Photography Exhibition, Tongxiang, Zhejiang, China
Commissions
2016 The Port and the Image Project: Documenting China’s Harbor Cities, Photography and Video, China Port Museum, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
Collections
Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung Foundation, Munich, Germany
Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
China Port Museum, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
Memorial of Xu Xiaobing Hou Bo, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, China
Education
2024 MFA, Digital and Interdisciplinary Art Practice Program, City College of New York, New York, NY, USA
2008 Bachelor's Degree, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Experience
2013 Tutor, Handmade book workshop, Fei Gallery, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
2012 Tutor, Self-publishing workshop, Times Museum, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
2011 Curator, Dali International Photography Exhibition, Dali, Yunnan, China
2011 Curator, Lianzhou Foto Festival, Lianzhou, Guangdong, China