Astria Suparak is an artist, writer, and curator based in Oakland, California. Her cross-disciplinary projects address complex and thorny issues (like white supremacy, colonialism, and racial capitalism) made accessible through a popular culture lens (such as sci-fi movies, rock music, and sports). Straddling creative and scholarly work, the projects often take the form of publicly available tools, databases, and histories of subcultures and omitted perspectives.
Over the last year Suparak’s creative projects have been exhibited and performed at MoMA, ICA LA, The Walker Art Center, The Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, and as part of the For Freedoms billboard series. Suparak has curated exhibitions, screenings, and performances for art institutions and festivals including The Liverpool Biennial, Museo Rufino Tamayo, The Kitchen, Eyebeam, MoMA PS1, and Expo Chicago, as well as for unconventional spaces such as roller-skating rinks, sports bars, and rock clubs.
Born in Los Angeles, CA
Lives and works in Oakland, CA
Education
| 2000 |
BFA with Highest Honors, Drawing, minor in Art History, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY |
| 2006 |
Syracuse University, NY (Museum Studies) |
| 1998 | School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL (16mm Film Production) |
| 1997 | The New School for Social Research, New York, NY (Film Studies) |
Solo Exhibitions
| 2022 |
Centre A, ‘Asian futures, without Asians’, Vancouver, Canada |
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Walker Art Center, ‘Collection Playlist: Peggy Ahwesh and Astria Suparak‘, curated by Michael Walsh, on-site and online Minneapolis, USA |
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Virtually Asian broke the Walker’s record for online views of the Collection Playlist program |
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| 2021 |
Museum of Modern Art, ‘Asian futures, without Asians’, New York, USA |
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ICA LA and GYOPO, ‘Asian futures, without Asians’, Los Angeles, USA |
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The Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, ‘Asian futures, without Asians’, San Francisco, USA |
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Jacob Lawrence Gallery, ‘Asian futures, without Asians’, University of Washington, Seattle, USA |
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Bard College, ‘Asian futures, without Asians’, Annandale-On-Hudson, New York, USA |
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Other Futures and online, ‘Tropicollage’, Amsterdam, the Netherlands |
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Berkeley Art Center, ‘Virtually Asian’, part of “The option to…”, CA, USA |
Group Exhibitions
| 2022 |
Eli Klein Gallery, ‘with her voice, penetrate earth’s floor’, New York, USA |
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Galerie Marguo, ‘The Hearing Trumpet, Part II’, Paris, France |
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SOMArts, ‘Grow Our Souls’, San Francisco, USA |
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Prismatic Ground, Maysles Documentary Center, ‘touch me don’t touch me’, New York, USA |
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| 2021 |
Oxy Arts, ’Encoding Futures’, Los Angeles |
Awards
Artist Opportunity Grant, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council
Travel Grant for Media Artists, Canada Council for the Arts
Pratt Circle Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn
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Astria SuparakAsian Futures, Without Asians, 2021-2022Multimedia presentation, 62 minutes
Commissioned by The Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco -
Astria SuparakAsians have been here longer than cowboys, 2021BillboardIn collaboration with Stop Discrimination
Commissioned by For Freedoms, part of the AAPI Solidarity campaign -
Astria SuparakHelmet to Helmet, 2021Collage, in collaboration with Caroline WashingtonCommissioned by Seen journal from BlackStar Festival
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Astria SuparakTropicollage, 2021Video (1'20''), loopedEdition 1 of 3+2AP
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Astria SuparakVirtually Asian, 2021Video3''05'
Commissioned by the Berkeley Art Center
