Winter 2018
January 23rd, 2018
Honolulu, Oʻahu Hawaiʻi
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TRADES is pleased to announce that Michael Wang will be our 2nd Artist in Residence on O‘ahu in February 2018.
Michael is the recipient of the Fondazione Prada and Qatar Museums Authority Curate Award (2014) and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant (2017). In Hawai‘i, he will continue his “Extinct in the Wild” project which has been shown at the Fondazione Prada in Milan, and at the XX Bienal de Arquitectura y Urbanismo in Valparaíso Chile.
Adopting the scientific designation “Extinct in the Wild,” Wang’s work focuses on flora and fauna species that are no longer found in nature but that persist through human intervention and care. These species represent a “kind of passage from nature into culture,” and with Wang’s intervention a further transition into the realm of fine art. Michael hopes to document the last location where these species were observed in the wild as well as their preservation in captivity or cultivation. In Hawai‘i, he is particularly interested in learning more about the ʻAlalā (Corvus hawaiiensis) on Hawai‘i island; the Ālula (Brighamia insignis) on Kaua‘i; Mt. Kaʻala Cyanea (Cyanea superba) and Sharktail Cyanea (Cyanea pinnatifida) on O‘ahu; and the Kokiʻo (Kokia cookei) on Molokaʻi.
We anticipate that Michael’s visit will foster conversations between local artists, scientists, conservationists and cultural practitioners; to expand our outreach to the neighbor islands; and provide a natural opportunity to further conservation education at the K-12 level.
www.michaelwang.info
An interview with Michael about “Extinct in the Wild” at Fondazione Prada