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Antonius-Tín Bui

Polydisciplinary Artist

New Haven, Connecticut

Antonius, a non-binary, Vietnamese American person with glasses and straight, waist-length black hair, sits smiling at the camera in their studio. There are hand-cut paper vessels, works in progress, inspirational images, and tools all around. They are dressed in netted, blue-ombre ensemble that reveals some of their arm tattoos.

Photo by Theresa-Xuan Bui.

“The reductive process deconstructs the traditional white canvas in order to both metaphorically and physically carve out space for narratives which are so often omitted from whitewashed histories.”

Antonius-Tín Bui is a spontaneous shapeshifter and polydisciplinary artist invested in the possibilities of portraiture, ritual, craft, and performance. Their ever-changing relationship to queerness, gender, and Vietnamese-ness greatly informs the way they create. They are the child of Paul and Van Bui, two Vietnamese refugees who sacrificed everything to provide a future for their four kids and extended family. Born and raised in Bronx, NY, Bui eventually moved to Houston before pursuing a BFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art. 

Since graduating in 2016, Bui has received fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center, Kala Art Institute, Tulsa Artists Fellowship, Halcyon Arts Lab, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Yaddo, Anderson Center at Tower View, Jentel, Monson Arts, and Fine Arts Work Center. Antonius has exhibited at various institutional, private, public, and underground venues, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, IA&A at Hillyer, Lawndale Art Center, Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, Artscape, Satellite Art Fair Austin, Blaffer Art Museum, Laband Art Gallery, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, and Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building.

Donor -The Maxwell/Hanrahan Awards in Craft are supported by the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation.

This artist page was last updated on: 08.20.2024

Craft
A shirtless person with glasses and a buzz cut sits in between the legs of a shirtless person with long hair who is seated a few feet higher relative to them. They are surrounded by an intricate floral design, a vessel, and photos of people and artwork. A text in the upper left corner reads “WHO IS WORTH MY LOVE, MY STRENGTH, & MY RAGE?”

I remember opening you into words, gently, with a single question by Antonius-Tín Bui, 2021. Hand-cut paper, ink, pencil, paint, 100 3/4 × 49 3/4 inches (unframed). Monique Meloche Gallery.

Photo by Robert Chase Heishman of Bob.

A seated person lightly reclines their head into the stomach of a person standing behind them. The seated person’s legs are crossed and their right hand is raised to grasp the standing person’s hand that is resting on their shoulder. Behind them are shelves of books and a painting of animals that dissolve into an abstract pattern.

The limits of my language are the limits of my world by Antonius-Tín Bui, 2021. Hand-cut paper, ink, pencil, paint, 84 × 56 inches (framed). Monique Meloche Gallery.

Photo by Robert Chase Heishman of Bob.

In the first of three hand-cut blue paper images, a person wearing glasses stands balancing a broken vessel on their shoulder, using their right arm and head to support it. Their left thumb and forefinger is in a pinched position and rests at their navel, with small ghost-like women floating directly above it. To the right is an image of a long-haired person carrying a large broken vase with both hands while simultaneously balancing another vessel on their head. The last image is of a short-haired person whose right thumb and forefinger is in a pinched position that connects with the bottom of an upright Vietnamese two-string guitar.

Holding onto these fragments, all these years (The Protectors) by Antonius-Tín Bui, 2021. Hand-cut paper, ink, pencil, paint, dimensions vary. Monique Meloche Gallery.

Photo courtesy of the USC Pacific Asia Museum.