

Arthur Huang
Born: 1972
Hometown: Northern California Bay Area
Based in: Tokyo
Arthur Huang lives and works in Tokyo, Japan as an artist and researched. He is interested in everyday memories which he has been exploring in his studio practice since 2001. He moved to Tokyo in 2009 to work as a molecular biologist at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science studying memory and learning in mice. He is also the director of the Tokyo-based artist collective Art Byte Critique.
Arthur Huang records various mundane everyday activities and explores the changes that occur in his memory of those activities. His studio practice is based within the spectrum of science and art with an interest in exploring the area where the two fields commingle. He has been working on three ongoing projects in recent years dealing with various aspects of everyday life.
“Memory Walks Project” (since 2012) This project was inspired by the discovery and ongoing research in neuroscience on place cells which are part of the spatial memory circuitry. Since 2012, he has been keeping track of his departure points for all his daily walks. Drawing upon his episodic memory at a later date, he uses this information to create memory maps on various medium including eggshells, styrofoam balls, and acrylic discs
“Daily Drawings Project” (since 2015) He has been making drawings during his commute on trains, subways, and buses almost everyday. The drawings are not preconceived and made intuitively during his commute. These works are the product and record of influences from his procedural and sensory memories.
“Memories’ Remnants Collage Project” (since 2018) With this most recent project, Arthur Huang makes collages from paper and other products such as envelopes, wrappers, and flyers before they make their way to recycling or the trash. These collages are created everyday and combine aspects of explicit and implicit memories to record his everyday activities.
In his studio practice, he has been asking these questions and more about the projects he pursues - “What do these works mean?”, “What are the influences in making these works?” and “Why did I make these works?” There are no clear answers or even clear paths to finding answers, but through the exploration, contemplation, and integration of these seemingly disparate projects, he hopes to push the evolution of his studio practice in new and unexpected directions.
Selected Solo/Two Person Exhibitions
2021
Daily Reconfigurations Annotations and Discoveries - 66 Elements, Hasu no hana, Tokyo, Japan
The Three Cornered World - Spending Each Day Meaningfully, Gallery Camellia, Tokyo, Japan
2019
A Brain with a Mind of Its Own, hasu no hana, Tokyo, Japan
Daily Life Behavioral Studies: Process Project, Flower Coffee Brew Bar, Chigasaki, Japan
2017
Everyday Circuits, Gallery Camellia, Tokyo, Japan
2016
My Everyday Life, hasu no hana, Tokyo, Japan
Memory Walks - Is This The Way I Went?, HAGISO, Tokyo, Japan
2007
Reading, Not Reading, Coffee, and Theories, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022
The Quartet, Art Platform Tokyo, ANA Intercontinental, Tokyo, Japan
2021
Tokyo Art Book Fair 2021, Online
Vancouver Art Book Fair 2021, Digital
A4 Self-restraint / Self-body, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Individual Tokyo Exhibition, Gallery33, Tokyo, Japan
My Armchair, Art Platform Tokyo, ANA Intercontinental, Tokyo, Japan
Unmasked: Artful Responses to the Pandemic, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, Vermont
2020
Tokyo Art Book Fair 2020, Online/Virtual
Vancouver Art Book Fair 2020, Online/Virtual
Inhabiting the Moment, Galerie La, Tokyo, Japan
The Screen and Beyond, Online Project
24 hrs project #2, Demi Cafe, Tokyo, Japan
Berkeley Art Center Members Exhibition, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, California
2019
Fundamental Complications, Root Division, San Francisco, California
Setouchi Art Book Fair, Tamamo Park, Takamatsu, Japan
Nakanojo Biennale 2019, Former Sawada Elementary School, Nakanojo, Japan
The Road to (and from) the Museum, Chigasaki City Museum of Art, Chigasaki, Japan
Look At Me Hungry, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, California
Full Circle, World of Glass, St. Helens, England
Tokyo Art Book Fair Ginza Edition, Sony Ginza Park, Tokyo, Japan
In the Details, Gallery LeDeco, Tokyo, Japan
Hot Bed 20:20 Print Exchange 2018, neo:galleryX, Bolton, United Kingdom
2018
Inktober Insanity, Launch Pad Gallery, Yokohama, Japan
Turning the Page: Manchester - Yokohama, Paper Gallery, Manchester, United Kingdom
Reading Between The Lines: Artist Books From Tokyo and St. Helens, Launch Pad Gallery, Yokohama, Japan
Art Fair Asia Fukuoka Awards 2018, Hotel Okura Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan
10th Anniversary, Jill d'Art Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
Let's Go To The Gallery 2018, Sukiwa Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Future Sound + Future Vision, Launch Pad Gallery, Yokohama, Japan
Size Matters, World of Glass, St. Helens, United Kingdom
2017
Tokyo Art Book Fair 2017, Terrada Warehouse, Tokyo, Japan
Nakanojo Biennale 2017, Sawatari Gallery, Nakanojo, Japan
Endless Dialogue, hasu no hana, Tokyo, Japan
Parplume University and Yoichi Umetsu, Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
New Face! Jill d’Art Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
Art Nagoya 2017, Westin Nagoya Castle, Nagoya, Japan
2016
Art Inspired by Neuroscience, Setagaya Monozukuri School, Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo Art Book Fair 2016, Kyoto and Tohoku University of Art and Design, Tokyo, Japan
Neuroscience Art and Book Fair, Daikanyama Tsutaya, Tokyo, Japan
On Coloring, Pushdot Studio, Portland, Oregon
2015
Tokyo Art Book Fair 2015, Kyoto and Tohoku University of Art and Design, Tokyo, Japan
cARTography: personal metaphors and mindful maps, Ryan James Fine Arts, Kirkland, WA
2014 AIAV Fellowship Artists Exhibition, Akiyoshidai International Art Village Gallery, Yamaguchi, Japan
2014
Tokyo Art Book Fair 2014, Kyoto and Tohoku University of Art and Design, Tokyo, Japan
Spiral Independent Creators Festival 15, Spiral Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Thank You For Failing, Asian Resource Center, Oakland, CA
2013
Tokyo Spidering, HAGISO, Tokyo, Japan
Setouchi Triennale 2013, Ogijima, Japan
Arthur Huang In The Studio
More About Arthur Huang
What are 3 words that best describe your work?
Everyday, recordings, archives
Who are some artists that have influenced your work?
On Kawara, Mark Lombardi, Danica Phelps, Mary Kelly, Matthew Ritchie, Sarah Sze, Julie Mehretu, Yuko Mohri, Junya Kataoka + Rie Iwataki, the artist communities of Art Byte Critique and the Nakanojo Biennale
What is the most important tool when creating your work?
My collection of pens
Credentials
Education
Rhode Island School of Design
United States of America, 2001
University of California, Berkeley
United States of America, 1994
Awards
Nakanojo Biennale Artist in Residence
2019
Nakanojo Biennale Artist in Residence
2017
Akiyoshidai International Art Village Artist in Residence
2014
Hambidge Center for the Arts & Sciences Artist in Residence
2006
Exhibitions
"The Quartet" Group Exhibition
Japan, 2022
"Daily Reconfigurations Annotations and Discoveries - 66 Elements" Solo Exhibition
Japan, 2021
"The Three Cornered World - Spending Each Day Meaningfully" Solo Exhibition
Japan, 2021