Thomas Chung (artist)

Thomas Chung (born 1988) is an American visual artist and assistant professor of art and painting[1] based in Anchorage Alaska whose work deals mainly with topics of globalization and healing culture.[2] He is best known for the controversy surrounding his painting “Everything” that includes a depiction of a decapitated head of Donald Trump being held by actor Chris Evans.

This article is about an American artist. For the American Poker Player, see Thomas Chung (American Poker Player).

Early life and education

Chung was born in New Jersey and grew up in New York and Hong Kong.[1]

He received a bachelor of arts degree in 2010 from the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco, California.[2] He studied at the Chelsea College of Art and Design in London. He received his master of fine art degree in 2013 from the Yale School of Art.[3]

Career

Chung participated in the 2012 group exhibition “Gifted and Talented” in Manhattan, New York, curated by performance artist Clifford Owens.[4]

His work was featured on PBS in May 2019 for its series “Indie Alaska.”[5]

He had a solo exhibit in 2018 at the Anchorage Museum titled “Everything is Sacred."[6]

His work is in the permanent collection of the Anchorage Museum and appears in the book North-Finding Place in Alaska.[7]

In 2020 Chung and University of Alaska paintings students created a stained-glass inspired mural in downtown Anchorage in partnership with the Anchorage Museum.[8][9]

Awards
  • Chung was the recipient of a Rasmuson Foundation 2016 Project Award to create a series of 10 large-scale oil paintings.[10]
  • University-wide Theron Rockwell Field Prize for “poetic, literary, or religious scholarship,” Yale University[2]

"Everything" controversy

In response to the result of the 2016 US presidential election, Chung created the painting “Everything” to comment on the inseparability of racial inequity and American culture and history. The painting was displayed at the University of Alaska’s Kimura Gallery in April 2017 as part of a regularly scheduled faculty show.[11] Images of the painting on the internet caused local TV stations to cover the story which then went national.[12] The motif of nude actor Chris Evans holding the severed head of Donald Trump was covered by the Fox News television program America's Newsroom and featured on Fox News Insider,[13] as well as other news media outlets such as The Associated Press.[14] This resulted in threats to the artist, hate mail, and the need for a police escort.[11] Shortly after the controversy began, University of Alaska Anchorage President Jim Johnsen issued a campus-wide statement in support of Professor Chung and free speech. "A vital and vibrant university, regardless of the campus, must be a place of ideas and debate," Johnsen wrote, "…a place where the most controversial ideas abound, and where assumptions and positions are openly tested."[11]

The painting “Everything” and its related aftermath has been cited in news media about the limits of free speech.[15] The subsequent controversial photo of comedian Kathy Griffin holding a fake severed head of Donald Trump[16] has been linked to Chung’s painting in conversations about free speech.[17]

Personal life

Chung lives in North Anchorage.[18]

References
  1. Crouse, Tripp (17 January 2019). "Artist's solo exhibition closing at Anchorage Museum". www.knba.org.
  2. "Thomas Chung | Department of Art | University of Alaska Anchorage". www.uaa.alaska.edu. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
  3. "Thomas Chung". Yale School of Art. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
  4. Proch, Renaud (Summer 2012). "Roving Eye: The Gifted and Talented Clifford Owens". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. Segal, Shiri (2019-05-29). "I am a Cultural Artist | INDIE ALASKA". Alaska Public Media. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
  6. "Thomas Chung: Everything is Sacred". Anchorage Museum. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
  7. Decker, Julie (2017). North-Finding Place in Alaska. Washington: University of Washington Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0295741840.
  8. Roth, Bill (September 22, 2020). "A new stained-glass inspired mural in downtown Anchorage aims to raise awareness about climate change". Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  9. Bundy, Jean (October 5, 2020). "What's Up with Public Art and Democracy?".
  10. "Foundation Announces 2016 Individual Artist Awards".
  11. Ikenberg, Tamara (April 21, 2017). "UAA art professor finds himself the target of threats for Trump painting". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  12. Ross, Mike (18 April 2017). "Trump severed head painting at UAA sparks debate". www.ktuu.com. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
  13. "Univ. Art Gallery Features Professor's Painting of Trump's Severed Head". Fox News Insider. April 21, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  14. "Painting of naked actor holding Trump's head sparks debate". AP News. April 20, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  15. Indrisek, Scott (2017-05-03). "Can Art Legally Threaten the President?". Artsy. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
  16. Young, Julius (2019-07-29). "Kathy Griffin says severed Trump head photo made her 'unemployable, uninsurable': 'I'm still on the D-list'". Fox News. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
  17. Whissel, Pamela (September 2017). "Free Speech Means No Taste Test". American Atheist: 4–28 – via SCRIBD.
  18. Clayton, Kyle. "God is a Cheeto". The Anchorage Press.
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