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Bing Chen

Letter from Bing Chen

Art has always been a progenitor to shifts in society. After all,

we only know what’s possible through our own eyes; we must

be shown what else is possible, different, and sometimes better

through another’s lens.


It was a photograph of Earth taken by wistful Apollo 17 astronauts

that helped catalyze a slate of environmental reforms. A Black

President of the world and the United States governed on film and

TV, respectively, long before one was elected into the actual Oval

Office. What we see alters and expands what we believe and who

we can become—and, eventually, how we treat each other.

We also know the shadows that emerge when a lens is not our

own—particularly when someone else speaks for us. While the

AAPI and Asian diaspora communities have been long mis- and

under-represented across creative mediums, much has changed in

the past three years. We’ve been profoundly encouraged by recent

momentum across all creative mediums to employ Asian and

Pacific Islander artists and decision makers, invest in their work,

and promote them on the world’s greatest and most hallowed stages.

But progress is often slower than those who need it would like.

That’s why the Gold Art Prize matters. The Gold Art Prize retakes

ownership over our own voices by investing in the next generation

of contemporary artists in partnership with the most reputable

AAPI leaders of the art world. This stands as a creative imperative—

even as new technologies have evolved the creative process and

consumption habits, few creative endeavors persist as reliably

and poignantly through time as art has and does. It also stands as

a commercial imperative as the AAPI community represents

the fastest-growing population in the United States—and the

world’s existing majority.


We are only here now because we are together. We want to thank

all of our incredible partners in the contemporary art world—from

curators to collectors to artists—for empowering all of us with their

long-standing creativity and commitment to new artistic voices.


 

Bing Chen is an impact entrepreneur as President of Gold House, General Partner of

Aum Group, and a principal architect of YouTube’s creator economy.

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