About
Bio
Chen Gao is an interdisciplinary artist and designer based in Detroit, MI, and Hartsville, SC, USA. She received her MFA degree in 2D Design at Cranbrook Academy of Art, USA. Currently, Gao serves as the assistant professor of art at Coker University, SC, USA. She used to teach graphic design at the School of Art + Design at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA.
Her work has taken many shapes, including film photography, experimental graphic design, free drawing, sound, poetic writing, installation, and performance. She tends to work with local materials to build relationships between herself and the outside environment through different times and spaces. Even though she is not performing the work, the work is performed themselves. This is all about her emotional life of being. She is not creating a form but finding a sense of belonging in the voids to connect the self to the outside world. She explores the fantasy of ideal freedom that is extracted from the real world and asserts the power of unconsciousness and dreams. She believes that personal expression connects to human society. Standing up for who she is is empowering others. When the audience is ready, they're ready to join in at any time.
Gao’s work has been celebrated in several exhibitions and (group) projects nationally and internationally, including the Library Mural Project at Toledo Museum of Art Reference Library and An Inspired Age at Toledo Museum of Art. She was selected to exhibit work at the Van GOGH Art Gallery in Madrid, Spain, Holy Art Gallery in London, :iidrr gallery in NYC, and Jackson Junge Gallery in Chicago. Gao had received the artist residency in ecoSuites, Greece. She had interviewed with Blurb, Cultivate Arts & Education, Insight of an Eco Artist, and Artist Talks Magazine. Gao has an upcoming solo show at the CICA Museum in South Korea in 2024. She is interested in continuing her professional studio practice in association with art education.
Contact
chen.gao2020@outlook.com
Education
Cranbrook Academy of Art
Bloomfield Hills, MI
MFA in 2D Design
(elective in Architecture)
The University of Toledo
Toledo, OH
BFA in Graphic and Interactive Media
(minor in Art History)
Solo Show
2024, CICA Museum, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (upcoming)
Group Exhibition & Project Design
2023, 10” x 10”, Jackson Junge Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA (upcoming)
2023, Type Speaks, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, LA, USA (upcoming)
2023 Monaco Contemporary Art Fair, VAN GOGH Art Gallery, Madrid, Spain
2023, ecoSuites Art Exhibition, ecoSuites, Halkidiki, Greece
2023, Imagination, online exhibition, Florence Contemporary Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2023, “Mapping": A Juried Exhibition, 440 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, USA
2023, OFFICE - An Immersive + Performance, :iidrr x A Space, New York City, NY, USA
2023, Pittsburgh Collage Collective Spring Show, Pittsburgh Collage Collective, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2023, ARTOXIC, Madsverse, M.A.D.S. Art Gallery, Milan, Italy
2023, Femina, online exhibition, Gallerium, Canada
2023, ART ON LOOP IV, The Holy Art Gallery, London, UK
2023, Believe, online exhibition, Gallerium, Canada
2023, “Aura” Exhibition, The Holy Art Gallery, London, UK
2023, “Aura” Exhibition, online exhibition, The Holy Art Gallery, London, UK
2023, LOVE 2023, online exhibition, Exhibizone, Canada
2022, 10” x 10”, Jackson Junge Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
2022, 2022 GDE of Cranbrook Academy of Art, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI, USA
2022, Cranbrook Student Showcase, Goldner Walsh Garden and Home, Pontiac, MI, USA
2022, In Transit, Forum Gallery, Bloomfield Hills, MI, USA
2021, Second Year Fall Exhibition, Forum Gallery, Bloomfield Hills, MI, USA
2020, Student Juried Art Exhibition, Center for the Visual Arts Gallery, Toledo, OH, USA
2020, Fresh Looks 2020, Ford Gallery at the Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA
2019, An Inspired Age, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH, USA
2019, Engineering Based Mural Project, LaunchPad Incubation at the University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA
2019, Library Mural Project, Toledo Museum Art Reference Library, Toledo, OH, USA
2018, UT Student Billboard Exhibition, local billboards, Toledo, OH, USA
2018, Student Juried Art Exhibition, Center for the Visual Arts Gallery, Toledo, OH, USA
Residencies & Collections
2023, ecoSuites, Artist in Residence, Halkidiki, Greece
2023, ecoSuites, Collection, Halkidiki, Greece
Bibliography
2023, Artist Talk Magazine Issue 26, UK
2023, ︎In conversation: Chen Gao, Insights of an Eco Artist, interview
2023, “ARTOXIC” International Mixed Reality Art Exhibition Catalog, M.A.D.S. Art Gallery
2023, Believe, Gallerium, Canada
2023, Artistonish Magazine 31st Issue, Canada
Professional Experience
Coker University
Hartsville, SC
Aug 2023-Present
Assistant Professor
Course Taught:
Typography, 2D Design, Professional Practice
School of Art + Design - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
Champaign, IL
Aug 2022-May 2023
Lecturer
Course Taught:
ARTD 222 Typographic Practice, ARTD 333 Type & Image,
ARTD 444 Typographic Systems, ARTD 595 MFA Design for Responsible Innovation Studio
HXOUSE World Tour 2022
Detroit, MI
Jul 2022
One-day Challenge Tenent
Workshop: Drawing Imagination Back to Grass
Bloomfield Hills, MI
May 2022
Workshop Leader
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI
Apr 2022
Visiting Critic/Reviewer
Columbia Global Centers|Beijing
Beijing, China
Jun 2021 - Sept 2021
Curatorial Assistant
UToledo Online - Instructional Design
Toledo, OH
Jun 2018 - Mar 2020
Multimedia Designer
Chinese Association of Greater Toledo
Toledo, OH
Oct 2018 - Oct 2020
Graphic Designer
United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
New York, NY
Aug 2020 - Nov 2020
Design Volunteer
United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
Hebei, China
Jul 2017 - Aug 2017
Event Assistant
