- We’re closed today but visit us soon!
- Purchase tickets
- Join mailing list
- Join as a member
- Donate
January 9, 2025 to May 11, 2025 | Aldrich Projects
Wen Liu: Tame Tangle
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is pleased to announce Wen Liu’s first solo museum presentation on the East coast, Tame Tangle. Liu’s presentation is the tenth installment of Aldrich Projects, a quarterly series featuring one work or a focused body of work by a single artist on the Museum’s campus. Tame Tangle will debut a series of new wall sculptures that explore themes of loss and belonging through material investigations that foreground the interplay between absence and presence. Wen Liu: Tame Tangle will be on view January 9 to May 11, 2025.
Born and raised in Shanghai, Wen Liu immigrated to the US in 2014 to pursue a career in the visual arts. Her practice examines the complexities of abandonment and acceptance, particularly in relation to her experience building a sense of security in a foreign environment. Deeply inspired by the natural world, Liu’s wall sculptures are created through a metaphorical multi-step mold-making process that she likens to the molting process, in which animals shed old or worn-out bodily elements to make way for renewal, repair, and growth.
Her compositions are inspired by an experimental calligraphy practice, where she folds still-wet paper in half to create symmetrical, inkblot-like images. These abstract “sketches” inform the sculpture’s design, bridging Eastern and Western modes of communication and interpretation. Her clay frameworks suggest organic and bodily forms such as vertebrae, pelvic bones, hip joints, braided hair, and sinuous tree roots—references symbolic of the temporal yet perpetual cycles of life.
The cavities between the skeletal structures are filled with resin and traditional Chinese herbal medicine, which Liu began integrating into her work after the loss of her father. Traditional herbal treatments are often formulated based on how effectively patients can communicate their symptoms and feelings. In this way, Liu draws a parallel between the frustration in the articulation of pain and the experience of speaking a second language, emphasizing how linguistic limitations can hinder connection and healing.
The presentation will be accompanied by a ‘zine.
Aldrich Projects: Wen Liu | Tame Tangle is curated by Curatorial and Publications Manager Caitlin Monachino.
Artist Bio
Wen Liu was born in Shanghai, China, and is based in Brooklyn, New York. She is a RAiR Foundation Grantee for 2022; DCASE Individual Artists Program Grantee for 2018, 2019 and 2020 and received the Illinois Arts Council Agency 2020 Artist Fellowship Award. She attended residencies at RAiR Foundation, MASS MoCA, Vermont Studio Center, ACRE and Hyde Park Art Center. Her work has been exhibited at Culture Center in Chicago, Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Michigan City, the National Grand Theater in Beijing, China and Roswell Museum in New Mexico.
Funders
Generous support for Wen Liu: Tame Tangle is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The catalogue is supported by the Eric Diefenbach and James-Keith Brown Publications Fund. Production support is provided by the Diana Bowes and Jim Torrey Commissions Fund.
Related Events
January 26, 2025 at 2:00 pm |
Group Tours
Sunday Afternoon Tour
Are you curious about the world of contemporary art but unsure where to begin? When you view works of art in a gallery, do you question what you see or feel the need to go into deeper insight? If you answered yes, join Education Assistant Antonio Paone for a tour of the exhibitions designed to activate your curiosity and engage your attention.
February 19, 2025 at 1:00 pm |
Group Tours
Seniors-Only Tour
Join us for this in-person gallery tour of highlighted works from our current exhibitions, guided by Education and Access Specialist Holly Lapine, reserved specifically for senior adults ages 60 and above!
February 22, 2025 at 10:30 am |
Accessibility Programs
Care and Connection at The Aldrich
Join us for Care and Connection at The Aldrich, an access program designed to provide a welcoming and engaging museum experience for visitors living with memory loss, and their care partners.
February 23, 2025 at 2:00 pm |
Group Tours
Sunday Afternoon Tour
Are you curious about the world of contemporary art but unsure where to begin? When you view works of art in a gallery, do you question what you see or feel the need to go into deeper insight? If you answered yes, join Education Assistant Antonio Paone for a tour of the exhibitions designed to activate your curiosity and engage your attention.
March 1, 2025 at 10:30 am |
Accessibility Programs
Sensory Saturday
Sensory Saturday at The Aldrich is a program designed for children (ages 4-12) with developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, those on the autism spectrum and their family members. The program includes exploration in the galleries in a relaxed environment and the discovery of contemporary art through touch, sound, and movement. In The Studio, participants will engage in a hands-on art project inspired by the Museum's current exhibitions.
March 15, 2025 at 10:00 am |
Third Saturdays, Free Admission
Third Saturdays
Visit the Museum for FREE the third Saturday of every month as part of our Third Saturdays program. Participate in a Story Time at 10:30 am, a Discovery Tour of our current exhibitions at 1 pm, and drop-in to The Studio for art-making activities.
March 15, 2025 at 1:00 pm |
Third Saturdays, Free Admission, Group Tours
All Ages Discovery Tour
Have you ever looked at contemporary art and wished you knew what it meant? Have you ever entered a museum not knowing where to start? If you answered yes, this free, interactive, and judgment-free tour of our current exhibitions guided by a Museum Educator is perfect for you! All ages welcome, Family-friendly.
March 19, 2025 at 1:00 pm |
Group Tours
Seniors-Only Tour
Join us for this in-person gallery tour of highlighted works from our current exhibitions, guided by Education and Access Specialist Holly Lapine, reserved specifically for senior adults ages 60 and above!
March 29, 2025 at 3:00 pm |
Exhibition Opening, Member Event
VIP and Member Opening for Martin Beck: ... for hours, days, or weeks at a time and Aldrich Projects | Wen Liu: Tame Tangle
Members and friends, please join us to celebrate the opening of Martin Beck: ... for hours, days, or weeks at a time before the exhibition opens to the public, and Aldrich Projects | Wen Liu: Tame Tangle.
March 30, 2025 at 2:00 pm |
Group Tours
Sunday Afternoon Tour
Are you curious about the world of contemporary art but unsure where to begin? When you view works of art in a gallery, do you question what you see or feel the need to go into deeper insight? If you answered yes, join Education Assistant Antonio Paone for a tour of the current exhibitions designed to activate your curiosity and engage your attention.
April 16, 2025 at 1:00 pm |
Group Tours
Seniors-Only Tour
Join us for this in-person gallery tour of highlighted works from our current exhibitions, guided by Education and Access Specialist Holly Lapine, reserved specifically for senior adults ages 60 and above!
April 19, 2025 at 10:00 am |
Third Saturdays, Free Admission
Third Saturdays
Visit the Museum for FREE the third Saturday of every month as part of our Third Saturdays program. Participate in a Story Time at 10:30 am, a Discovery Tour of our current exhibitions at 1 pm, and drop-in to The Studio for art-making activities.
April 19, 2025 at 10:30 am |
Third Saturdays, Free Admission, Children and Family Programs
Story Time for Kids: I Am Smoke
Bring your budding artists to The Aldrich for Story Time, in collaboration with the Ridgefield Library! Together, we will explore Wen Liu’s artwork, who creates sculptures loosely inspired by ink-blot paintings and the human body. Then, we will read I Am Smoke by Henry Herz, illustrated by Mercè López, and move to The Studio to create our own ink-blot paintings! Perfect for families with children ages 6 and under.
April 19, 2025 at 1:00 pm |
Third Saturdays, Free Admission, Group Tours
All Ages Discovery Tour
Have you ever looked at contemporary art and wished you knew what it meant? Have you ever entered a museum not knowing where to start? If you answered yes, this free, interactive, and judgment-free tour of our current exhibitions guided by a Museum Educator is perfect for you! All ages welcome, Family-friendly.
April 26, 2025 at 6:00 pm |
Special Event
Aldrich Gala in the Garden
Celebrating artist Maren Hassinger and Governor Ned Lamont and the State of Connecticut. Join us at the Museum for cocktails, a seated dinner, and live auction in our newly renovated Sculpture Garden.
April 27, 2025 at 2:00 pm |
Group Tours
Sunday Afternoon Tour
Are you curious about the world of contemporary art but unsure where to begin? When you view works of art in a gallery, do you question what you see or feel the need to go into deeper insight? If you answered yes, join Education Assistant Antonio Paone for a tour of the exhibitions designed to activate your curiosity and engage your attention.
Top image: Wen Liu, Inarticulate Trace No. 2, 2024. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Jeffrey Jenkins Projects