Biography

Christian Nguyen (b. 1968, Saigon, Vietnam) is an artist whose practice centers on painting, informed by a background in architectural photography, installation, video, and drawing. After immigrating to New York City, he earned a BFA from The Cooper Union School of Art and an MFA from Hunter College. His early work documenting architecture for the City of New York shaped a lasting interest in spatial imagery, structure, and how built environments express social experience. 

Nguyen’s paintings draw inspiration from fresco traditions and architectural decoration. A significant reference is the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assis, in Italy - a site that he has visitied numerous times.  Nguyen’s process combines abstraction, pattern, and gesture to create immersive pictorial spaces and a personal language of forms. 

He has received grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and Socrates Sculpture Park, participated in the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program and the World Views Residency at the World Trade Center, and has taught at Parsons, Pratt, and The New School. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California.