May Sun

May Sun (born 1954) is a Los Angeles-based artist known primarily for her public art projects. Sun works in the mediums of sculpture, mixed media, photography and installation. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She was born in Shanghai, China, moved to Hong Kong at the age of two with her family and immigrated to the United States in 1971 to attend the University of San Diego. "May Sun often refers to aspects of her Chinese heritage in her work, which consistently crosses cultural and political boundaries as well as the boundaries traditionally separating art forms and disciplines."
Her installation "UnderGround" is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Her multi-media installation "L.A./River/China/Town" premiered at the Santa Monica Museum of Art's Art in the Raw series in 1988, and the MOCA-produced radio version of the installation won a Silver Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Her installation "Fugitive Landing", created at Capp Street Project in San Francisco, moved on to the MIT List Visual Arts Center in 1991 and to the Asia Society Galleries in New York City in 1994. She has won numerous awards and fellowships, including two National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artist's Fellowships and a Getty Fellowship for the Visual Arts.
Sun received her B.A. in Art (Painting/Sculpture/Graphic Arts) from UCLA and attended the MFA program at Otis Art Institute (now Otis College of Art and Design), Los Angeles. She was on the faculty at California Institute for the Arts, and is a visiting artist and lecturer at art schools and colleges nationally.
Selected exhibitions
Doin' It in Public: Feminism and Art at the Woman's Building, a Pacific Standard Time exhibition, Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, California, 2012.
Unjustified, curated by Kerry James Marshall, Apex Art, New York, New York, 2002.
Public art
Sun's public art commissions include the Hollywood and Western Red Line Subway Station in Hollywood, CA; Union Station Gateway Center, Los Angeles; City Hall in Culver City; Warner Center, Woodland Hills; San Antonio International Airport, San Antonio, Texas; the Best Friends Animal Society in Mission Hills, Los Angeles; the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, Massachusetts and the Robert F. Kennedy Inspiration Park at the site of the former Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Her installations and public art projects are heavily researched and she draws inspiration from the history and surroundings of the site.
List of Sun's public commissions
Robert F. Kennedy Inspiration Park, in collaboration with Richard Wyatt. Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, Ambassador Hotel site. Gonzalez/Goodale Architects (Pasadena, CA) and AHBE Landscape Architects (Los Angeles, CA). Commissioned by the Los Angeles Unified School District. Installed 2010. Received Honor Award from Westside Urban Forum's 2012 Design Awards, 2005.
Flow (bronze floor inlays), Crown City Center Office Building, Langdon Wilson Architects (Los Angeles, CA). Commissioned by Investment Development Services, Pasadena, California, 2004. Installed 2005.
Echoes of St. Francis, outdoor sculpture for the Northeast Valley Animal Shelter, Department of Animal Services. Commissioned by the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles, California. Installed 2007.
Walking the River, San Antonio International Airport Terminal Renovation Project: member of design team with Marmon Mok Associates and Davis, Durand-Hollis, Rupe (San Antonio, TX). Designed terrazzo floor. Commissioned by the City of San Antonio, Texas. Installed 2004. Received American Institute of Architects Certificate of Recognition Award.
Sky Coyote, outdoor sculpture and integrated artwork for lobby, Warner Center office building, Poliquin Kellogg Design Group (Woodland Hills, CA). Commissioned by Lennar Partners (Irvine, CA), Woodland Hills, California. Installed 2005.
Chinese Chess Plaza, Central Area Corridor, Central Artery/Tunnel Project, new plaza design for gateway to Chinatown. Commissioned by Massachusetts Highway Department and Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Boston, Massachusetts. Installed 2007.
City of Dreams/River of History], east portal, Union Station Gateway Center. Lead Artist, with Richard Wyatt and Ehrenkrantz & Eckstut Architects (Los Angeles, CA). Commissioned by Catellus Development (Los Angeles, CA) and the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Installed 1996.
La Ballona (outdoor sculpture in reflecting pool), City Hall, Culver City, California. CHCG Architects (Pasadena, CA) Commissioned by the City of Culver City, CA. Installed 1995.
Listening for the Trains to Come (outdoor fence sculpture), commissioned by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, Los Angeles, California. Installed 1993.
Hollywood Blvd. and Western Ave., Red Line Subway Station. Collaborative station design with Escudero Fribourg Architects (Los Angeles, CA), and specific art elements throughout station. Commissioned by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority, Los Angeles, California. Installed 1999.
References
Further reading
"How do we memorialize the pandemic?" COVID-19 memorial concept by May Sun, The Boston Globe, May 2022
"In Los Angeles, Set-Dressing the Subway" by David Hay. New York Times, December 20, 1998.
"May Sun (with Peter Brosius and Tom Recchion): L.A./River/China/Town" from Santa Monica Museum of Art.
Review of May Sun's exhibition at the Santa Monica Museum of Art in Artforum International, Feb. 1989, Vol. 27 Issue 6, p. 141.
"L.A./River/China/Town: May Sun, Peter Brosius and Tom Recchion Collaborate to Shape a Piece of History" in High Performance, Summer 1989, Vol. 12 Issue 2, pp. 22–27.
Mixing It Up II: Jolene Rickard, Robbie McCauley, Judy Baca, May Sun, 1989. Video recording by Academic Media Services, University of Colorado, Boulder.
Review of exhibition featuring the mixed-media work of May Sun at the B-1 Gallery in New York City in Arts Magazine; Feb. 1990, Vol. 64 Issue 6, p. 106.
"Interview with May Sun" in Artweek, February 7, 1991, Vol. 22, pp. 20–21.
"May Sun--Fugitive Landing: A Revolutionary at Sea" in High Performance, Winter 1991, Vol. 14 Issue 4, p. 44.
Mapping Histories: Third Newport Biennial, curated by Marilu Knode and Anne Ayres, 1991.
Testimonies of the City: Identity, Community and Change in a Contemporary Urban World, 2007, edited by Richard Rodger, Joanna Herbert, pp. 221–227.
"Public Art-Playing a Role in Neighborhood Revitalization," by Nyla Arslanian in Discover Hollywood Magazine, Summer 2011.
"Artists Talk About Public Art in Santa Monica," by Lynne Bronstein in Santa Monica Mirror, Aug. 2, 2011.
Art, Women, California 1950-2000: Parallels and Intersections, edited by Diana Burgess Fuller, Daniela Salvioni, p. 228-229.
May Sun Studio, artist's website.
1954 births
Living people
American performance artists
American people of Chinese descent
American installation artists
20th-century American sculptors
21st-century American sculptors
American women sculptors
21st-century American women artists
20th-century American women artists