New York, NY 1979
Tseng Kwong Chi | Photography

Tseng Kwong Chi​
(1950, Hong Kong – 1990, New York)

Year | 1979
Dimensions | 36 x 36 inch
Medium | Silver gelatin, selenium-toned print
Tseng, Kwong Chi was a photographer internationally known for his Expeditionary Self-Portrait Series a.k.a. East Meets West. In over 100 images, he poses in front of iconic architecture and sublime nature as his invented artistic persona, a Chinese ‘Ambiguous Ambassador’ in the classic Mao suit. Tseng was an important documentarian and denizen of the downtown 1980’s New York club and art scene. During his brief but prolific 10-year career, he created a rich historical archive of the decade with over 100,000 photographs of his contemporaries such as Keith Haring, Andy Warhol,​ ​Grace Jones, the B-52’s, amongst others. Tseng’s photographs have been exhibited​ ​extensively and​ ​international​​y,​ ​and are in numerous major public and private collections. He died in 1990 at the age of 39.