York Chang (b. 1973, St. Louis, MO) is based in Los Angeles and makes conceptually-driven work which considers the slippages between memory, language, images, symbols and belief in our current epistemic crisis. His projects consider how our sense of truth and reality is affected by the velocity of fractured narratives in evolving forms of propaganda, the theatrics of conflict, and the staged presentation of credibility. He uses interdisciplinary strategies, such as installation, appropriation, collage/de-collage, painting, video, and performance as interventions into documentary modes of display, public address, broadcast, and reception. He transforms archival and forensic systems into supports for poetic gestures, and considers the exhibition construct as a literary device. His work often foregrounds the labor of looking in the searching and sorting of images, finding pattern and meaning in the noise of hyper-information.
Chang has exhibited at galleries, institutions, and fairs in the United States and internationally, including Greene Exhibitions, Commonwealth & Council, Charlie James Gallery, 18th Street Arts Center, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, MAK Center for Art & Architecture, MASS MoCA, Scottsdale MoCA, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Edel Assanti London, NADA New York, EXPO Chicago, MiArt Milan, and concurrent solo exhibitions in 2019 at the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) and the Vincent Price Art Museum (VPAM). He has developed and performed in performance works at the Hammer Museum, OCMA, and MOCA Los Angeles.
Chang was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in Fine Arts (2025), the City of Los Angeles (COLA) Master Artist Fellowship (2022), the Center for Cultural Innovation CALI Catalyst Grant (2022), the VPAM Thomas Silliman Vanguard Award (2020), and the California Community Foundation/Getty Foundation Fellowship (2014). His work is held in private and public collections, including the permanent collections of Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. His work has been reviewed and profiled in publications such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Artnews, ArtAsiaPacific, Hyperallergic, Artnet, Artillery, the LA Weekly, the OC Weekly, and Artscene.
York Chang also served on the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission from 2005-2013 (President, 2009-2013), leading the development of new urban design guidelines and artist-centered commission processes for public art and architecture in Los Angeles.