Jennifer Wen Ma (b. 1973, Beijing, China) is a visual artist who moved to the United States in 1986, and received her Master of Fine Art degree in 1999 from Pratt Institute, New York. Ma works and lives between New York and Beijing. Ma’s interdisciplinary practice bridges varied media such as installation, drawing, video, public art, design, performance, and theatre; often bringing together unlikely elements in a single piece, creating sensitive, poetic and poignant works.

Recent projects include: The Alchemy of Making at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2017; A Beautiful Disorder at Cass Sculpture Foundation; What About the Art? at Qatar Museums, 2016; Installation opera Paradise Interrupted, Charleston, New York, Singapore, Taiwan, 2015-2018; Flux Projects, Atlanta; Market Square Public Art Program, Pittsburgh, 2015; 5×5 Monument Park, Washington DC; Vancouver Art Gallery, 2014; Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, 2013; Cambio Cultural, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2013; Performa 13, New York, 2013; The Republic of China Centennial Grand Countdown, Taipei, 2010; Biennale of Sydney, 2010; Echigo-Tsumari Triennial, Japan, 2009; Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain, 2009; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2008; and the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008, among others.

Solo exhibitions include: Halsey Institute, Charleston, 2019; Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing, 2018; Sandra Gering Inc, New York, 2017; Art021, Shanghai, 2016; Hanart Square, Hong Kong, 2013; Ullens Center For Contemporary Art, Beijing, 2012; Eslite Gallery, Taipei, 2012; and The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, 2009, and others.

Permanent and long-term public installations include: Nature and Man in Rhapsody of Light at the Water Cube, The National Aquatic Center, Beijing, 2013; In-Between World—Daydream Nation, Digital Beijing Building, 2008; Aeolian Garden, the city of Colle di Val d’Elsa, Italy, 2005, among others.

In 2008, Ma was one of the seven members on the core creative team for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, and the chief designer for visual and special effects. She received an Emmy for the US broadcast of the ceremony.

In 2015, Ma conceived, co-wrote, visually designed and directed installation opera Paradise Interrupted. It was previewed at the Temple of Dendur, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and world premiered at Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston, in 2015; performed at Lincoln Center Festival, New York, and Singapore International Festival of Arts in 2016; National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Kaohsiung, and National Theatre and Concert Hall, Taipei, in 2018. The opera won the prestigious international award from Music Theatre Now.

Education

• 1999 | Masters of Fine Art, Pratt Institute, New York City, NY, USA
• 1993 | Bachelors of Art, Oklahoma Christian University of Science and Arts, OK, USA

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• 2019 | Paradise Interrupted, Art Macao Festival, MGM Cotai, Macau, China
• 2019 | Cry Joy Park–––Into the Looking Glass, Art Kiosk, Redwood City, CA, USA
• 2018 | Cry Joy Park–––Fold, Tang Contemporary, Beijing, China
• 2018 | Paradise Interrupted, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Kaohsiung; National Theatre and Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
• 2017 | Ink Wash v.s. Kun Opera Workshop, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Kaohsiung; National Theatre and Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
• 2017 | Eight Views of Paradise Interrupted, Sandra Gering Inc, New York City, NY, USA
• 2016 | Exhaustive, Ink Studio, Art021 Art Fair, Shanghai, China
• 2016 | Paradise Interrupted, Lincoln Center Festival, New York City, NY, USA
• 2016 | Singapore International Arts Festival, Singapore
• 2016 | Jennifer Wen Ma 4-Part Video Compilation, Arthub Asia’s “Screenings” series online exhibition
• 2014 | Paradise Interrupted: Disintegration, Mikimoto New York Flagship Store holiday installation, New York City, NY, USA
• 2013 | Forty-Four Sunsets in a Day, Hanart Gallery, Hong Kong
• 2012 | Hanging Garden in Ink, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
• 2011 | Tide–Inked Spring, Art Space Niji, Kyoto, Japan
• 2009 | Brain Storm, Phillips Collection with Transformer Gallery and Shigeko Bork mu project, Washington, DC, US
• 2009 | You Can’t Always See Where You Are Going, But Can You See Where You’ve Been?, DMoCA, Echigo-Tsumari Triennial, Niigata, Japan
• 2005 | Aeolian Garden, UMoCA, Arte all’Arte 10, Colle di Val d’Elsa, Italy 
• 2005 | Whiplash, Shigeko Bork mu project, Washington, DC, USA
• 2002 | Cleansing Walk, Chinatown, Lower Eastside, Brooklyn Bridge, Long Beach, New York, US
• 2002 | Do Do Falling, Art Fiend Foundation, New York City, NY, USA
• 2001 | Richard and Jenn, The University Gallery, OK, USA
• 2001 | Bye Bye Do Do, Elysium Studios, New York City, NY, USA
• 1999 | Above is the Old/Below is the Small, P.S. 12 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, USA
• 1996 | Sinicism, The Lovelight, Norman, OK, USA

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 2019 | Palat(ett)e, Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China Hua Yuan, Art Macao Festival, Macau, China
• 2018 | New Networks: Contemporary Chinese Art, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, New Zealand
• 2017 | Glass Ceiling: Art of Resilience and Fragility, UrbanGlass, Brooklyn, NY, USA
• 2017 | The Dark Matters, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia
• 2017 | Luminous Shadows, INK studio, Beijing, China
• 2017 | Excerpts from Paradise Interrupted and Traditional Kun Operas, The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, USA
• 2016 | The Alchemy of Making Paradise Interrupted, ACAW Field Meeting Take 4: Thinking Practice, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, NY, USA
• 2016 | A Beautiful Disorder, Cass Sculpture Foundation, West Sussex, UK
• 2015 | Bending the Arc, Flux Night, Atlanta, GA, USA
• 2014 | Asian Cultural Council 50 Anniversary Gala centrepiece commission, New York City, NY, USA
• 2013 | Innovation For Future Mobility, Haixinsha Parade, Guangzhou, China
• 2013 | The World Turned Inside Out, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, Netherlands
• 2012 | Moving Image in China: 1988–2011,Centro per l’arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy
• 2011 | Calendar, Art Space Niji, Kyoto, Japan
• 2011 | Lingua Franca, St. Moritz Art Masters, St. Moritz, Switzerland
• 2010 | Compulsive Beauty, Space 15^th, Seoul, Korea
• 2009 | Everything is Museum, Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain
• 2008 | mARkeT, Beijing Center for the Arts, Beijing, China
• 2007 | The Politics of Fear, Albion, London, UK
• 2006 | Belief, Singapore Biennale, Singapore
• 2003 | Blue Sky Exposure, 798 Space and Beijing Tokyo Art Projects, Beijing, China
• 2001 | Small Works Salon, Atelier Sockmonkey, Brooklyn, NY, USA
• 1999 | Size Matters, GAle GAtes et al., Brooklyn, NY, USA
• 1998 | A.I.R. Gallery’s 3^rd Biennial Exhibition, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City, NY, USA

Selected Public Works

• 2015 | A Winter Landscape Cradling Bits of Sparkle, Public Art Commission at Market Square, Pittsburgh, USA
• 2013 | Nature and Man in Rhapsody of Light at the Water Cube, permanent new media public art, National Aquatic Center, Beijing, China
• 2008 | The In-Between World–Daydream Nation, permanent public multimedia installation, Digital Beijing Building, Beijing, China

Awards

• 2016 | Paradise Interrupted selected as a winner of Music Theatre NOW 2016 at Operadagen Rotterdam, Netherlands
• 2016 | New York State Council on the Arts Award in Film & Media/New Tech Production Grantee, New York, USA
• 2014 | 2014 Alumni Achievement Award, Pratt University, New York City, NY, USA
• 2003 | NYFA Artists’ Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, USA

For full list of exhibitions, public works and awards, please contact the gallery at enquiry@ipreciation.com

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Artwork Images