Wren Gardiner

Wren Gardiner (b. 1992, USA; they/them) is an artist based in Southern California. They were raised in Arizona and Missouri. Their practice interwines performance with writing, video, installation, and object making. In their work, Wren explores the contemporary impulse to share private information, thoughts, and feelings with the public, via the internet. Their method of exploration utilizes word-vomit-like performances touching on various topics that any middle class white millennial might find themselves dwelling on - the health and wellness industry, entry level jobs, modern day genetic testing, quarter life crises - that sort of thing. 

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Wren has shown work across the United States and internationally. Recent exhibitions and screenings include Frieze San Diego, San Diego, CA (2022); Dramas de Otro Mundo, screened online through UV Estudios por Colección de Fortabat in Buenos Aires (2020); DOC LA Film Festival, screened at Raleigh Studios in Los Angeles, CA (2019); St. Louis International Film Festival, screened at the Plaza Frontenac Theater in St. Louis, MO (2019); and By Now We Are There, shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tucson, AZ (2017). In 2022, they co-curated Frieze San Diego with Cat Gunn in San Diego, CA. Awards and recognition include the Flaherty Film Graduate Student Fellowship, awarded by the Flaherty Film Seminar (2021); the DOC LA Rising Star Award for their short film 52%, awarded by the Parajanov-Vartanov Institute (2019); and the Creative Achievement Award for their BFA thesis work, New American Ethos, awarded by the University of Arizona School of Fine Arts (2016). Wren holds a BFA in Photography, Video and Imaging from the University of Arizona (2016) and is currently a second year MFA candidate in Visual Arts at the University of California San Diego.