Westport, CT – MoCA [Museum of Contemporary Art] Westport announces its Summer Exhibitions featuring the works of contemporary artists Richard Tsao and Sao.
Tsao (born in Thailand, lives in New York City) and Sao (born in Portugal, lives in Southport, CT) both work with color. Either through accumulative (Tsao) or layered washes (Sao), color, pigment and surface are modes in which emotions are conjured, metaphor explored and a sensory experience entices the viewer.
An opening reception will be held on Wednesday, June 28, 2023 from 6 – 8 PM. The event is free for MoCA Members and $10 for the general public. Advance registration is requested on mocawestport.org.
Richard Tsao: The Constant Gardener
On view June 29 – August 20, 2023
In Richard Tsao’s well-known flood room paintings on canvas and wood, his unrestrained use of color seems to appropriately present itself in just the right balance. He manipulates pure pigment with an alchemist’s instincts in an approach that leaves his work vibrantly colored. With pigment thoroughly encrusting the canvas or wood supports, and with sections of the encrustations sticking out well beyond the supports’ edges, Tsao’s works are less painted than accumulated—they may be years in the making.
Tsao’s Rectangle series of the 1990s does not seem fixed in the physical world. These superb monotypes take full advantage of the possibilities of transferring an oil painting onto paper. In Tsao’s paintings on canvas, the physicality of brilliantly colored paint also becomes architecture; in contrast, these Rectangle works are the distillation of the spirit of color.
These lushly layered abstract works are closely linked to Tsao’s signature vibrantly colored multi-layered flood roompaintings that evoke the lush nature of his native Thailand. Those familiar with Tsao’s color saturated paintings will recognize his unrestrained use of color in Rectangle works and feel enlivened by the luminosity of the accumulated colors.
Sao: Inner Landscapes
On view June 29 – August 27, 2023
Sao’s Inner Landscapes is a collection of large-scale paintings on canvas that showcases the artist’s unique approach to creating meditative spaces. The artist’s compositions use horizontal lines and gestures suggestive of landscapes, while layers of refined colors are applied to create luminous washes. Through this technique, Sao evokes a sense of depth and serenity within each work.
Sao’s keen sensitivity to color relationships and the distilled paint application engage the viewer’s senses and bring about an overall contemplative atmosphere to the paintings. Light within each artwork emanates serenity, spirituality and light–these meditative spaces invite viewers to explore and engage with the paintings on a deeper level, both visually and emotionally.
“Richard Tsao and Sao create a spiritual, joyous experience with each artwork, and present the depths of meanings, feelings and relationships we have with color in our lives and in the world at every moment,” explained Liz Leggett, MoCA Westport’s Director of Exhibitions.
MoCA’s new summer gallery hours as of June 29, 2023 are Thursday – Sunday from 12 – 4 PM. Docent-led gallery tours are available on Thursdays and Saturdays at 1 PM.
To learn more about MoCA’s Summer Exhibitions and supporting programming, contact Liz Leggett, MoCA Westport’s Director of Exhibitions, at
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or 203/222-7070.
MoCA wishes to thank Expand Media for sponsorship of the Inner Landscapes exhibition.
MoCA Westport also thanks Björn Sao; Jung Lee Sanders, Founder and Director of Art Projects International, NYC; Lilly Wei; and Flynn Thomas for helping to bring this exhibition to fruition.
More About Richard Tsao
Born and raised in Bangkok, Richard Tsao moved to New York in 1976, where he currently lives and works. His 1995 breakout first solo exhibition in New York at the Queens Museum featured Tsao’s color saturated multi-layered paintings described as “chromatically opulent, process-intensive abstraction” by Holland Cotter who reviewed the show in The New York Times. Since the mid-1990s, Tsao has shown extensively in the United States and Asia. Recent solo exhibitions include: Richard Tsao: Green Acres, Art Projects International, New York (2021) and Richard Tsao: Monotypes, Art Projects International, New York (2020). His work is represented in major collections including the Weatherspoon Art Museum, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation Collection, and Montefiore Fine Art Collection, New York.
More About Sao
Sao has been an artist and designer for over 30 years. A native of Portugal, Sao studied art and design in Denmark before moving to America to pursue her career. Her paintings and textiles have been exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution’s Renwick Gallery, The Textile Museum, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC, the American Center for the Arts in Paris, the Gulbenkian Foundation and the American Embassy in Paris, the Amphitheater in Arles, France, Rhode Island School of Design’s Museum of Art, and at the American Craft Museum, NYC and Museum of the City of New York. She was represented by the Fendrick Gallery in Washington DC and New York. Sao has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and was awarded The Washington DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Award and Women in Design International Award. Sao created costumes for the Gulbenkian Ballet in Lisbon and The London Contemporary Dance Theatre and had her own store in Soho, NYC for ten years, exhibiting both her art and couture fashion line. She has lectured extensively on her art and design, and her book Wearable Art: Innovative Designs for Clothing and Fibers was published by Viking Press in 1980. She currently paints full time at her studio in Southport, Connecticut.
About MoCA Westport
MoCA Westport is a non-profit visual and performing arts organization that has been a cornerstone of the Westport, Connecticut community for over 50 years. In 2019, MoCA Westport underwent a significant expansion in order to bring extensive programming to the local community and greater New York and New England regions.
In addition to hosting contemporary art exhibitions and performing arts events, The Academy at MoCA Westport provides arts classes for all ages.
MoCA Westport is thankful for its generous Supporters, including Bill and Jodi Felton, Joyce Pauker, Eric Bernheim, Gary Cosgrave, Michael Delgass, Paul Efstathiou, Kristin Foster, Derek Goodman, Elizabeth Gorayeb, Tom Hofstetter, Pamela Hovland, Shari Lebowitz, Adam Moore, Deborah Murtaugh, Rachel Pencu, Dogan Perese, Jane Preiser, Oliver Pursche, Elizabeth Strick, Joyce Thompson and Lucien Vita.
MoCA Westport is also thankful for the dedication of its generous Sponsors, including the Artur and Heida Hermanns Holde Foundation, Inc.; The Bafflin Foundation; Bank of America Museums on Us; Beechwood Arts and Innovation; Wendy and Jacques Bouthillier; The Law Offices of Cohen and Wolf; The Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation; The Cup Bearer; Richard Epstein and Ina Chadwick; Expand Media; Fairfield After Dark; Fairfield County Bank; FLB Law; The Girlfriend Fund; The Hofstetter Baron Group of Wells Fargo Advisors; The Dale & Laura Kutnick Foundation; Marcia Selden Catering & Events; Lance Lundberg and Terry McGuinness; Meadow Ridge, A Distinctive Lifecare Community; The Russell Insurance Agency; Suzanne and Norman Sorensen; SRI Fine Art Services; The Union House; Cindy and John Vaccaro; Wealthspire Advisors; Wells Fargo Bank; Westport Lifestyle; WPKN; MoCA Westport operates with the support of the New England Foundation for the Arts; the Department of Economic and Community Development, CT Humanities, Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
