Artist’s Statement

Yeni Mao's practice centers on the distortion of cultural histories through sculpture, installation, photography and video. Mao is especially interested the opacity and clarity of myths, and the transformation of archetypical narratives through time, space, and media into altered authenticities. The most recent work joins Kung-fu mythologies with actual modern combat practices in an exploration of the diluted and redirected manner in which we engage with masculinity and the enervation of power.

Yeni Mao was born in Guelph, Canada. He holds a BFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, and apprenticed in bronze casting at Artworks Foundry in Berkley, CA. Mao’s work has been shown nationally and internationally, in solo exhibitions at Collette Blanchard Gallery and Jon Tomlinson Enterprises, and included in group exhibitions at University of Maryland, Rush Arts, Chashama, La MaMa Galleria, Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, ISE Cultural Center, ROM for kunst og arkitektur in Norway, Shang Element Contemporary Art Museum in Beijing, Ardell Gallery in Bangkok, and Galleria Metropolitana in Santiago. In 2007Mao was Artist-in-residence at The Lijiang Studio in Yunnan and The Red Gate Gallery in Beijing.

Artist’s Links

artist’s website: www.yenimao.com