Sun Wang is a painter originally from China, now living and working in the greater Detroit area of Pontiac. In his paintings, he uses multiple still vignettes to tell stories in discontinuous but interconnected storyboards. These each integrate different styles and cultural elements to reveal the conflict between the narrative and these nonlinear storyboards and this perceived conflict provides an opportunity to visually interweave multiple narrative angles, synthesizing a style of visual storytelling more often associated with literature and film. He is a recipient of the PLAYGROUND DETROIT 20/20 Emerging Artists Fellowship award in 2020.
“Quiet Moonlight” marks Sun Wang’s debut solo exhibition at PLAYGROUND DETROIT on February 19, 2021. The exhibition brings together paintings structured through dynamic storyboards and disorienting vignettes that address socio-economic and cultural struggles, spanning themes from religion and mythology to war and the rise and fall of political regimes. Through polyphonic image-making and time–space transitions within grid-based compositions, Wang explores cultural exchanges between East and West, framing historical figures, myths, and contemporary events within a post-global context shaped by technology, media, and layered interpretation.
