Tishan Hsu, a 74-year-old artist based in Brooklyn, is the subject of a feature article discussing his 40-year career exploring the boundary between the virtual and the physical. His current exhibition, "Emergence," at Lisson Gallery in New York (through Jan. 24), presents new biomorphic UV prints with silicone appendages that evoke fingers penetrating a computer screen. Hsu's interest in this territory began in the mid-1980s while working as a word processor on Wall Street, and his practice has consistently sought to give form to the paradox between bodily presence and virtual distance.
This article matters because it highlights a significant moment of belated recognition for an artist whose work has been prescient for decades. Hsu's recent superbloom of interest includes high-profile shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto; New York's High Line; the 59th Venice Biennale; and the 58th Carnegie International, culminating in his first survey, "Liquid Circuit," at the Hammer Museum in 2020. His art, which resists easy categorization as sci-fi, offers a timely meditation on the increasingly blurred line between human flesh and digital reality, resonating deeply with contemporary anxieties about technology and embodiment.