Dr. Rodney "Pygoya" Chang

Rodney Chang was born in Honolulu in 1945.   Instead of surfing and sailing, he has spent his life in school, then decades treating dental patients in Hawaii.  With degrees in other fields, Dr. Chang is also a long time artist, writer, and psychologist.  For fun he has danced for decades in dance clubs as well as run thirty 26-mile marathons.  As an artist he has explored digital art since 1984.  He was the first to exhibit in the medium in the state of Hawaii as well as in Calcutta, India, and in the nation of China (solo exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, 1988).  Online he established the perpetual virtual museum at Lastplace.com.  Truly Virtual Web Art Museum went online in 1997 and has greeted over 1.5 million visitors.  In 1997 he also launched the manifesto for the art movement of  "Webism."  Prior to his love affair with high technology and its cyber-culture, Chang devoted 10 years to painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, and mixed media.   The writer has published four novels- "Pygoya," "Roswell Encounter Gallery," "Starry Lights Over Roswell," and "The Red Sable Brush Society," all available at www.amazon.com.   More information about the books here.  Chang is also publishing exerts from his artist's diary, titling the collection of journal entries, "The Artist Who Thinks Too Much," available in 2009. Pygoya Gallery had its grand opening on July 31st, 2008 and welcomes many visitors on lst Friday Art Walks, every first Friday of the month.  During the grand opening weekend, Chang flew off to San Francisco, and completed his 25th 26.2 mile marathon, photographing the race course as he does for other marathons.  Pygoya Gallery is located in Downtown, Honolulu at 1170 Nuuanu Avenue, Suite 206, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817.  The gallery is dedicated to global digital art and showcases the work of Rodney Chang. The enterprise was introduced to the local population with a splash.  Local newspapers interviewed Chang, formerly known as the infamous Disco Dentist or "Disco Doc," curious about the inclusion of dance floor lights for the gallery's newly installed bamboo floor.  Now Honolulu has a gallery where visitors can dance as they view and experience contemporary digital fine arts (2009).