Two of the pieces part of LIGNE MARIO, currently on display at Hyphen Space. Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
Mario Zie Chang, a resident of Oak Cliff for about four years, has unveiled his first solo show just in time for his 50th birthday and his 30th year in Dallas.
The show, titled LIGNE MARIO, is currently on display at Hyphen Space, a co-working, provisional cafe and gallery space located near Fair Park.
Chang is a multidisciplinary artist who has a background in graphic design, web design, photography, painting, illustration, animation and video. Currently, he serves as the creative director of the Asian Film Festival of Dallas and is involved with the Dallas Asian American Artist Collective.
“Everything I do is art. I always try to draw and stuff, but right now I have a part-time job as a graphic designer, and the other part-time I do this kind of art, or freelance art, for myself,” he said. “I went to the Art Institute of Dallas a long time ago, graduated, and I became a flash animator back in the ’90s, and then I became a web developer, and then a photographer for a long time, and then right before the pandemic, I decided to go back into illustration and drawing.”
During the pandemic, Chang said he considered starting a graphic novel, but another design opportunity came up, moving the graphic novel plans to the background. Then, following the pandemic, he was granted a “big opportunity” to do game illustrations.
“I did that and that really brought me back into real illustrations and things like that. That project really ignited, I guess reignited, my love for illustration,” he said.
The process for his first solo show began about a year ago after Hyphen Space curator Christina Hahn invited him to do an exhibit.
“He’s so full of stories. I also knew that he had a lot of art, but it was never for himself. There was a lot of commissions for other people, a lot of design work, a lot of murals for other things, but specific focuses. I wanted him to grow as an artist,” Hahn said. “And one of the most difficult ways to grow as an artist is doing a solo exhibition because for the first time you have to reveal your guts, you need to have a statement, and you need to have a story that you’re telling the public.”
Chang added that he was nervous he wasn’t going to finish in time for the opening reception on May 9.
“I think I finished it like maybe two days before the show, and I thought theme-wise I thought about if it’s about my own life and experiences because I know myself the best, so I did a lot of not soul searching, but like looking to my life,” Chang said. “Who am I? What kind of person am I? What do I want to share with others, and also add some humor into it?”
The installation includes three large-scale pieces that reflect three different birthdays from his youth to his present age, with clouds in each representing the notion to “keep on dreaming” and his Asian heritage.
Made on construction foam with acrylic paint, Chang said the work takes inspiration from the style of drawing called Ligne Claire, which means “clean line.” The style was pioneered by Hergé, the creator of the European comic book character Tintin, whom Chang grew up reading.
The first piece depicts his first birthday with a nod to his artistic talents and the Korean tradition known as doljabi.
“On your first birthday, they lay out these things like a calculator, and you let the baby pick one, and then it symbolizes ‘oh this baby might become a doctor or something like that,’” he said. “The title is Where are the crayons? because I’m an artist.”
The second piece, Dopamine, shows Chang during his 30s. Surrounded by food and technology, Chang said the piece showcases himself doomscrolling and worrying about the future.
Lastly, FIDELITY depicts Chang in his current state, having just turned 50. He said that it means whether or not he’s tired as an artist to keep on creating.
The first “cluster” of four showcases sketches from Mario Zie Chang. Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
Additionally, four clusters are made up of various sketches from Chang along the back hallway. He said each piece was based on prompts shared in a Discord group he is a part of.
Hahn curated the sketches based on similarities found across the sketches, from depictions of a science fiction style to symbols of Asian American culture.
“I think that’s a good representation of what the inside of Mario’s brain looks like, where there’s this capacity for darkness, for detail, and for seriousness, but also, at the same time, there always has to be an underlying breath that’s happening, of fresh air, of humor, of lightness,” Hahn said. “And so, he really is a pillar of our Asian American community and also the arts community here. We really look to him for a lot of guidance. Not in terms of ‘what do we do,’ but in terms of ‘how should we live?’”
LIGNE MARIO will be on display in Hyphen Space until July 7.
