07 Sep Cryptofire degen
Source Credit: Content and images from Wall Street International Magazine by . Read the original article - https://www.meer.com/en/82573-cryptofire-degen
The Hole is is pleased to present CryptoFIRE degen, a solo exhibition by Christine Tien Wang, the San
Francisco-based artist’s first in New York. Working in acrylic and oil on canvas, Wang’s practice looks
closely at the most era-defining output of the creative public: memes. In CryptoFIRE degen Wang focuses
on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, her paintings toying with both the bizarre culture that has formed
around the volatile cryptocurrency market and the unique and fascinating medium of memes that helps
us both understand and ridicule it.
Degen as in short for ‘degenerate’: engaging in speculative trading or investment strategies; even the
exhibition title is cryptic and part of an insider world with its own nomenclature. While the memes we
consume are often fed to us by unseen algorithms, across thirteen new paintings Wang curates our IRL
FYP (in real life, for you page). Her selection of scalding-hot takes utilizes imagery from pop culture and
politics, from Janet Yellen to Lord of the rings. Many of them are well-worn meme structures the crypto
world has put their twist on; whether you are a doom scroller or accidentally opened Twitter in the past
decade, you’ve seen this Drake format before, seen the Mean girls whispering and a monkey puppet
looking askance.
Making paintings about Bitcoin is not new for Wang with a 2018 show titled Crypto rich and in 2019
#cryptomemes, women and Leo DiCaprio. When starting the body of work for this show, Bitcoin was valued
at $54,000 for the first time since December 2021 after its not-insignificant plummet: the value today as
you read this $59,125 but that information could be very different when the show opens week. In Angelina
Jolie crying screen grabs from the movie Original sin (2001) are overlayed with all-caps “Bought Bitcoin
for $50k and sold for $17k”. This painting updates the 2018 meme, made when Bitcoin fell from $19k in
December of 2017 to $8k less than two months later: the speed of crypto and the speed of memes, the
speed of digital culture leaves painting in the dust.
In this latest installment Wang explores the embarrassment and humor of being in too deep, down the
rabbit hole not just with crypto but technology addiction or even the avaricious nature of the art world.
The duration is off: memes are fast and disposable, her paintings are arduous and months-long; crypto
changes value dramatically in a single day, the art world raises up talent and drops it within the same
year. Our brains have been rewired to have short attention spans and an insatiable appetite for new
content: we are supposed to spend hours gazing at an artwork in a museum to slowly chewing through
the layers of history and meaning but instead we scroll fast through an auction catalogue and click to
bid. Looking at Wang’s paintings of memes is like getting off a treadmill or hitting a sudden speed bump;
we have to slow down but it is uncomfortable.
“Another gallery once wrote about my work that I’m making memes high art like painting, but that’s
wrong: I’m bringing paintings down to memes”. Translating this online shared imagery into paint
could be considered a pop gesture, where the artist is simply showing us our existing cultural artifacts
in paint in a gallery so we can consider them closely. But I think the artist feels more about the content
of these memes than she lets on, and feels more about painting itself. Both internet trolls and her mom
frequently ask her “why are you doing this” and I think the process of making these paintings is how she
is figuring that out.
Christine Tien Wang (b. 1985, Washington, D.C.) lives and works in San Francisco. Using meme
paintings as an accessible format, Wang creates thought-provoking and hyper-contemporary work that
comments on everything from identity to the consequences of capitalist ideology. She received her BFA
from the Cooper Union and her MFA from UCLA. Recent solo exhibitions include Screen time at Night
Gallery in Los Angeles, Banana philosophy at PTT Space in Taipei and Fake stupid, queen of cringe at Galerie
Nagel Draxler in Cologne as well as group shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles and
the Museum of Contemporary Art Busan. Wang is currently Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing
at the California College of Art.
Source Credit: Content and images from Wall Street International Magazine by . Read the original article - https://www.meer.com/en/82573-cryptofire-degen