Today Is Good For Causing Trouble: A Conversation with Sherman XM Jiang
Presented by Asian Art Museum
Date & Time:
Saturday, April 18, 2026
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Location:
San Francisco Art Fair Theater
Artist Sherman XM Jiang joins curator Abby Chen for a conversation about the evolving trajectories of their practice, from mythological symbolism to feminist reinterpretations of cultural systems. Jiang’s early works draw on animal cosmologies, reimagined in their paintings with playful and unexpected transformations. The discussion will also explore Jiang’s Chinese Almanac series, which revisits the years between 1979 and 2009 — often seen as the golden decades of China’s economic rise — through the lens of their own formative experiences. Painted in acrylic and later animated, the works transform the traditional almanac into a playful guide for rewriting everyday rituals and expectations.
Moderator and Speaker bios:
Sherman XM Jiang is an artist based in California whose practice spans painting, installation, video, and performance. Born in China in 1977, Jiang came of age during the country’s rapid social and economic transformation and began working in contemporary art in the early 2000s as China’s avant-garde scene gained global attention. Their work draws on mythology, cultural symbols, and everyday systems — often reimagined through a feminist, playful, and quietly subversive lens. Personal experiences, including reflections on mental health and resilience, also inform their evolving practice. Jiang relocated to California in 2012 and continues to develop an interdisciplinary body of work marked by humor, imagination, and healing.
Abby Chen is Curator and Head of Contemporary Art at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. She joined the museum in 2019 to establish its first Department of Contemporary Art. Her curatorial work focuses on contemporary Asian and Asian diasporic art, migration, public space, and the relationship between art and technology. She also founded the Practice Institute within the museum and leads its RAD (Research, Art, and Development) initiative.
Image Credit: Sherman XM Jiang, (b.1977, China), Life Survey Report, Series One, No. 1, 2014. Acrylic on canvas, 15 7/10 × 31 1/2 in | 39.9 × 80 cm.
