Date: August 14 – September 11, 2010

Opening Reception: Saturday, August 14th, 4pm – 630pm

Artists: Charles Yuen, Dinh Q. Le , Dorothy Imagire, Eunjung Hwang, Howardina Pindell,
Nancy Hom, Roger Shimomura, and, Sin-ying Ho.

In collaboration with the Artists Alliance Inc.(AAI) an AAAC (Asian American Arts Centre) exhibition entitled tentatively, “Eight Artists: from the Archive”, will be installed in the Cuchifritos art gallery/project space located inside the Essex Street Market from August 14th - September 11th 2010.

This exhibition of Eight Artists from the Archive brings a few chosen artists to the public, focused on those presented in AAAC’s digital archive – artasiamerica.org. The best way to present a context for such art at Cuchifritos is through the presence of the digital archive. Making this resource available on site and demonstrating the ease of tapping into it AAAC has been gathering its physical archive of images and documents of Asian American artists for over two decades, and a good portion of this resource is now online. Go to artasiamerica.org and/or come to the gallery and ask for a tour of it there.

Artists:
Dinh Q. Le is a fine arts photographer, best known for his woven-photographs. Growing up in Vietnam, Le watched his aunt weave grass mats. Lê used these memories of weaving as a metaphor for his hybridized identity. While Lê produced works in a myriad of different media, this inventive photo-weaving technique became the hallmark of his oeuvre. Deploying his photo-weaving technique, Le fused together iconic images of the war, from found and personal photographs, and film stills.

Dorothy Imagire’s work has addressed issues of Asian American identity through installations on the Japanese American concentration camp (history/family memory), and mixed Japanese American identity since 1989. Recently, she has explored Asian American female stereotypes through her vampire series and other “exotic” fetishes.

A Soho-styled slickness is not what Charles Yuen’s paintings are ever about. The influence of the New York art world feels distant; even someone like Francesco Clemente whose sensual figuration and Eastern leaning seem akin. What Yuen eschews is gorgeousness. It's not to say that his pictures aren't beautiful, but Yuen seems to be saying that too much attention to beautiful craft might lead viewers away from deeper meditations on tensions in every canvas, large or small. Informed by archetype, Yuen invites us to participate in ritual space.

Eunjung Hwang's work represents unique combinations of digital and physical form. Her projects start by creating a variety of characters derived from personal dreams and subconscious imagery. Fantasy narratives unfold as the characters act out their roles within a structure interwoven by dream logic. This method attempts to formalize a larger and more intangible narrative. The works are meant to be enjoyed like rhythmic structure of music rather than as a readable story.

Howardena Pindell, an African American artist with strong ties to Asia as well as being significantly influenced by Asia. Known for the wide variety of techniques and materials used in her artwork, Howardena Pindell has created abstract paintings, collages, "video drawings," and "process art." Her work explores texture, color, structures, and the process of making art; it is often political, addressing the issues of racism, feminism, violence, slavery, and exploitation.

Nancy Hom, a long time friend who began with the Asian American Movement in NY, giving direction for Kearney Street Workshop in San Francisco for many years, and evolving in her life and work to become active in the practice of American Buddhism

Roger Shimomura's paintings, prints, and theatre pieces address sociopolitical issues of Asian America and have often been inspired by diaries kept by his late immigrant grandmother for 56 years of her life. Sing Yin Ho, a ceramicist from Hong Kong who uses historical and new digital images in her work, referencing a global culture emerging from the collision of East and West.

The tours and presentations will welcome students, educators and general public to Cuchifritos and the Lower East Side; introducing visitors to the neighborhood that AAAC calls its new home. We will be available to give tours and answer questions from the public, as well as the press. Tours will include local available highlights such as Ming Fay mosaic tile art in the Delancey Subway Station, located underneath the Essex Street Market. Cuchifritos is located in the market, which is located within the same city block as AAAC office space, which houses our physical archive.

*Opening reception will be accompanied with live music by 7 Tier Tien and complimentary food & drink. Come and join us!