Oscar Tuazon

Oscar Tuazon (né Oscar Hansen; born 1975) is an American visual artist, who works in sculpture, installation art, architectural art, and mixed media art. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Early life and education Oscar Tuazon was born as Oscar Hansen on July 9, 1975, in Indianola in Kitsap County, Washington. His brother is Elias Hansen, he is an artist and a frequent art collaborator. They grew up on the Port Madison Reservation, land governed by the Suquamish Indian Tribe. Their parents were Anna Linzey, and John Hansen, and both were book binders.

Career In 2001, Tuazon served as a founding board member at the Center for Urban Pedagogy in New York with his former Deep Springs classmate Damon Rich.

Tuazon began his career in 2003 working in the Studio Acconci, of architect and artist Vito Acconci. He exhibited his work "City Without a Ghetto," at the group exhibition, Float (2003) held at Socrates Sculpture Park, in Queens, New York City.

After moving to Paris in 2007, he began exhibiting widely in Europe. He has since then exhibited at the 2011 Venice Biennale, the 2012 Whitney Biennial, and many group and solo shows throughout the world.

Tuazon was awarded in 2007 the Betty Bowen Award, by the Seattle Art Museum.

A critic in the art magazine Frieze wrote in 2013 that "like his heroes, from Gordon Matta-Clark to wilderness survivalists, Tuazon's non-conformist approach to artistic practice plays at the juncture of architecture, sculpture and performance." A New York Times review described his work as "haunting ... pit[ting] Mr. Acconci's robust ego against Mr. Tuazon's raw and fragile subjectivity."

Personal life and name change Oscar met and married artist Lan Tuazon in New York City in the mid-90s, and changed his name from Oscar Hansen to Oscar Tuazon. The couple would later be divorced, but he kept the last name.

Exhibitions

2008, Kodiak (with Elias Hansen), Seattle Art Museum, Seattle 2010, My Mistake, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London 2011, 54th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy 2012, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago 2012 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City 2016, Hammer Projects: Oscar Tuazon, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles 2016, Shelters, Chantal Crousel Gallery, Paris 2016, Ariana Reines & Oscar Tuazon, Modern Art Gallery, London 2017, Gardar Eide Einarsson & Oscar Tuazon, Maureen Paley Gallery, London 2018, Works by Joe Bradley, Oscar Tuazon, and Michael Williams, Brant Foundation Art Study Center, 941 North Street, Greenwich, Connecticut; curated by Allison Brant 2019...and other such stories, Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago 2024, Los Angeles Water School (LAWS), Morán Morán, Los Angeles