"But they also miss what makes his approach distinctive. Chang worked with objects that industrial culture designed to be identical: records pressed in millions of copies, portraits drawn according to strict house style, coins minted for perfect interchange. His interest lay in the precise moment when the promise of sameness begins to fail, when time and human handling leave marks that transform supposedly identical objects into singular things."
"This exhibition is significant for several reasons. It represents Chang's first institutional retrospective and his most comprehensive solo presentation to date. It is also a posthumous one. Chang died in 2025 at the age of 45, leaving behind a body of work built almost entirely around the practice of collecting and arranging mass-produced objects until their individual histories became visible and legible."
Rutherford Chang worked with industrially produced objects designed to be identical, such as records, portraits, and coins, focusing on the moment when sameness begins to fail. He collected and arranged mass-produced items until individual histories and traces from time and human handling became visible, transforming them into singular objects. A comprehensive, posthumous retrospective, Rutherford Chang: Hundreds and Thousands, opened January 17, 2026 at UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, marking his first institutional retrospective. Chang moved frequently between New York and China during his career, and Beijing's rapid cycles of construction and replacement give his attention to residues particular resonance. The exhibition was co-curated by Philip Tinari and Aki Sasamoto.
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