Two leading Cambodian artists draw from memory, history, and the environmental crisis to create striking mixed-media art.
Beyond the ancient temples of Angkor lies a deeply compelling contemporary art scene. This exhibition spotlights works by Sopheap Pich and Leang Seckon, two of Cambodia’s most internationally prominent artists. Born in the 1970s, both lived through the Khmer Rouge genocide and emerged in the early 2000s as key figures in the country’s artistic revival.
While their styles differ greatly, both artists transform everyday materials from Cambodia in distinctive ways. Seckon, using photographs, paint, and recycled textiles, builds collages that contemplate the traumas of the past and the complexities of the present. Pich uses natural materials and discarded objects to craft tactile, abstract sculptures, which he sees as distillations of his remembrances and emotions.
Image: Junk Nutrients, 2009, by Sopheap Pich (Cambodian, b. 1971). Bamboo, rattan, wire, plastic, rubber, metal, cloth, and resin. Asian Art Museum, Gift of Dipti and Rakesh Mathur, 2025.44. Photograph by Kevin Candland, © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
Art from Contemporary Cambodia is organized by the Asian Art Museum.
Sustained support generously provided by the Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang Endowment Fund for Exhibitions and the Kao/Williams Contemporary Art Exhibitions Fund.
