sTo Len is a genre fluid artist with interests in printmaking, installation, sound, video and performance. His printmaking work updates traditional techniques such as Suminagashi (floating ink) and Gyotaku (fish impression) into an experimental collaboration with nature and a site of discourse on environmentalism and art activism. The cross-disciplinary nature of Len's work has included collaborations with bodies of water, transforming public space into art studios, recycling waste into art materials, and hosting performances at Superfund sites. sTo Len is based in Queens, NY with familial roots in Vietnam and Virginia, and his work incorporates these bonds by connecting issues of their history, environment, traditions and politics. Len was the first artist in residence at AlexRenew Wastewater Treatment facility in Alexandria, VA and is a member of Works on Water, a group of artists and activists working with and about water in the face of climate change and environmental justice concerns. He was most recently the Public Artist in Residence at the Department of Sanitation in NY.
sTo has exhibited his artwork internationally, including exhibitions in New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Texas, Vietnam, Japan, Germany, Australia, Denmark, and Canada. sTo co-founded the artist-run space Cinders Gallery in Brooklyn, NY in 2004 and curated hundreds of exhibitions and performances for nearly two decades while publishing zines and print editions.
As a performance/sound artist, sTo has performed at diverse venues such as MOMA PS1, New Museum, St. Marks Church, Ramiken Crucible, Silent Barn, and Roulette in New York, as well as Atelier Kunst Spiel Raum and the English Theater in Berlin, Theater de Chameleon in Amsterdam, La Société de Curiosités in Paris, Manzi Gallery and Heritage Space in Vietnam.
Photo by Alon Koppel
CV
Education
2020 MFA, Nomad MFA, University of Hartford, CT
2000 BFA, Sculpture, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 Sign Language, All Street Gallery, NY, NY
San TV, Museum of Moving Image, Queens, NY
2022 To Dissolve Into the Hydrocommons, Seton Gallery, New Haven, CT
Shadow Assembly of the Haw, Peel Gallery, Carrboro, NC
2020 Renewal, Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA
2019 Dark Side of the Woon, Dirt Palace, Providence, RI
2017 Nước Là Sự Sống (Water is Life), Vin Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Runoff, Parlor Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Mapping Mespeatches, Ace Hotel Gallery, NY
2016 Nước Chảy Đá Mòn (Water Flows, Rock Erodes), Manzi, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tsunaminagashi, No Foundation, Toronto, Canada
The End Papers, Wayfarers, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Asshats for Shitheads, Booklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Forming, FLA Gallery, Gainesville, Florida
2011 My Slow Called Life, Mulherin-Pollard, NY, NY
Bend of the World, Secret Project Robot, Brooklyn, NY
2009 This Black Hole Is Sucking, Hanna Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Joy of Life, Katharine Mulherin Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Where the Water Goes, Rockland Center for the Arts, NY
Waterbodies, University of Connecticut, Avery Point, CT
Trash Festival, Oak Park Gallery, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Flow, Lore Degenstein Gallery, Susquehanna University, PA
2022 Steeped in Spilled Milk Pt.2, Elizabeth Fine Arts, NY, NY
Invisible, ArtYard, Frenchtown, NJ
2021 Year of Uncertainty, Queens Museum, NY
Sanitation Celebration, Pace University Art Gallery, NY, NY
Works on Water Triennial, Governors Island, NY
2020 No Place But Home, Art Gallery of University of West Florida, Pensacola, FLA
Confluence, Joseloff Gallery, University of Hartford, Hartford, CT
2019 Black Hole/Atomic City, Sanitary Tortilla Factory, Albuquerque, NM
If The Wind Blows, Elizabeth Fine Arts, NY, NY
2018 Tracing Obsolescence, Apex Art, NY, NY
Krossing Over, Metaxu Gallery, Toulon, France
2017 Works on Water, 3LD Art & Technology Center, NY, NY
2016 New Radicles, Brilliant Champions, Brooklyn, NY
2015 Last Daze, Space Gallery, Portland, MN
Artists Are Like Water, Look Up Gallery, Guerneville, CA
2012 Limitless Range, Space Gallery, Portland, MN
Permanent Collection, Nancy Margolis Gallery, NY, NY
Residencies and Awards
Public Artist in Residence Program, NY Dept. of Sanitation & NY Dept. of Cultural Affairs
The Map Fund
Connecticut Sea Grant
International Association of New Haven Grant
City Artist Corps Grant, NYC
New York Department of Cultural Affairs Fellow
New York Foundation Art Fellowship for Interdisciplinary Work
Queens Arts Fund Grant
Wave Farm Residency, Acra, NY
Carrizozo A.I.R., Carrizozo, NM
Artist in Residence, AlexRenew Wastewater Treatment Facility, Alexandria,VA
Field R/D, Fresh Kills Park, Staten Island, NY
Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council Art Grant, Providence, RI
Works On Water Residency, Governor’s Island, NY
Ora Lerman Charitable Trust, Soaring Gardens, Laceyville, PA
Open Studio Residency, Manzi, Hanoi, Vietnam
Time Synch Residency, Clocktower, NY, NY
Community Grant, Brooklyn Art Council, NY
Collections
West Collection, Oaks, PA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, Museum of Modern Art, NY Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA, San Diego State University, University of Connecticut, George Mason University, Art Institute of Chicago, Pennsylvania State University, University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Scripps College Claremont, CA, Denison University Granville, OH, Amherst College, Chapin Library of Rare Books, Williams College, MA, University of Michigan Special Collections, Wesleyan University, Olin Library, CT, Houghton Library Harvard University, RISD Special Collections
Selected Performances
2019 The Listeners with Ernesto Pujol, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, NY, NY
2018 Dao Xuan Festival, Hoa Binh, Vietnam
Radio Soul as part of What Happens After by Mary Mattingly at BRIC, Brooklyn, NY
Tracing Obsolescence, Apex Art, NY, NY
2017 Krossing Over Festival, French Institute, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Selected Talks and Lectures
Museum of Moving Image, The New School, School of Visual Arts, Columbia University, University of Minnesota, University of Hawaii, City Tech NY, University of Mary Washington, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Hartford Art School, Rhode Island School of Design, Avery Point University of Connecticut, New York University, Pratt Institute, Keynote Speaker Eco Arts Week Kingston, University of Florida, Rollins College