An acclaimed voice in performance and video art, Patty Chang has been recognized for her provocative and darkly humorous explorations of gender, desire, and the limits of the body. Melons (At a Loss) (1998), often described as a reflection on grief and representation, stages a quietly unsettling ritual of self-consumption. Meanwhile, In Love (2001) turns an intimate kiss into an uneasy act of endurance, blurring the line between affection and discomfort. At a time of escalating political crises, when agency over marginalized, gendered bodies remains fiercely contested and the politics of embodiment continue to be a site of struggle, these works persist in challenging and resisting hegemonic perceptions of women’s bodies imposed by structures of power.
Patty Chang is a Los Angeles based artist and educator who uses performance, video, installation, and narrative forms when considering identity, gender, transnationalism, colonial legacies, the environment, large-scale infrastructural projects, and impacted subjectivities. Her most recent collaborative project, Learning Endings, is a multi-part interdisciplinary research that has surfaced amidst the overlapping contexts of climate crisis, threatened ocean ecosystems, and challenges to scientific expertise. In addition to numerous awards and fellowships, her work has been exhibited at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, New Museum, M+ Museum in Hong Kong, and Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden. She teaches at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA.