Asian Artists to Watch 2024: Chang Teng Yuan

Each year, we identify the Asian artists on the rise, shining a light on the exciting and provocative works enriching the region’s artistic and cultural landscape. Taiwanese artist Chang Teng Yuan shares his story.

Born in Kaohsiung and now living and working in Taipei, Chang Teng Yuan has created an artistic world around the concept of archaeology in a post-apocalyptic era. His works are a reflection of East and West cultural influences, distinguished by his bold use of simplistic lines, saturated colours and classical landscape elements. And portrayed in many of his works is the central figure Parrotman, a character Chang dreamed up to help him re-examine human behaviour in his imagined apocalypse. 

Central to his work is the study of contemporary human behaviour juxtaposed with an imagined future. His first artistic series to feature Parrotman is Parrotman x Earth Archeology, which put him on the art map. Chang’s work has won numerous accolades, and his solo and group exhibitions have been held worldwide, including London, New York, Cologne, Oaska, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Taipei. His most recent shows include a solo Parrotman exhibition at Hong Kong’s 13A New Street Art Gallery in 2021 and A Bold Harmony, a group exhibition in Bangkok’s Tang Contemporary Art in 2023. This year he exhibits in A Decade Ago, a group show with Yirit Arts.