Icons of Presence: Asian American Activist Art

Runs: October 23, 2008 – January 3, 2009
Opening Reception: October 23, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Chinese Culture Center Gallery
750 Kearny Street, 3rd Floor
Gallery Hours: Tue- Sat, 10-4
Admission: Free

Chinese - 中文網頁

Related Activities:

• Kearny Street Workshop Panel Discussion
• Screen Printing Workshop (more information to come)

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The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco is proud to present its new exhibition, Icons of Presence: Asian American Activist Art, organized by guest curator and scholar Margo Machida.

Icons of Presence highlights the substantial role of printmaking and graphics as a powerful means of social expression for Asian American visual culture. It showcases both graphic art and posters from the landmark decades of the 1970s and ‘80s, and more recent work by Jim Dong, Nancy Hom, and Leland Wong, who played a pivotal role in the San Francisco Bay area’s Asian American arts movement. Putting the work of these three Chinese American artists in a wider context, the exhibition and its accompanying catalog also emphasize the range of influences that have shaped their art and cultural activism.

Icons of Presence is conceived as a counterpart to Asian/ American/ Modern Art: Shifting Currents, 1900-1970. This national historical survey exhibition of Asian American art, with significant West Coast representation, is on view at the de Young Museum in San Francisco from October 25, 2008 – January 18, 2009. Since the de Young show does not extend through the ‘70s or beyond – the period that witnessed the rise of the Asian American movement and cultural politics – Icons of Presence foregrounds the activist turn in Asian American visual art. By focusing on the work of these three individuals, Icons of Presence provides a slice of a larger history in American art that is both national and international in scope, to which these still-active Chinese American artists bring their own distinctive perspectives.

Major funding for the Icons of Presence Exhibition is provided by generous contributions from Zellerbach Family Foundation, Vincent Woo Foundation, The San Francisco Foundation, Union Bank of California, Portsmouth Plaza Parking Corporation, Grants for the Arts, our members and individual donations.

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Picture 1: A Future for Our Children?, Nancy Hom, 1985
Picture 2: Fate, Jim Dong, 2007
Picture 3: Demonstrating the Sword, Leland Wong

存 在 的 印 記：美 籍 亞 裔 活 躍 份 子 藝 術

展覽:存在的印記
展覽日期:2008年10月23日至2009年1月3日
開幕酒會:2008年10月23日下午6点半
地点:舊金山中華文化中心畫廊
地址:舊金山乾尼街750號, 三樓
畫廊時間:星期二至星期六, 上午10點至下午4點
價格:免費

由舊金山中華文化中心贊助展出的《存在的印記：美籍亞裔活躍份子藝術》著重展現七十與八十年代間、美籍亞裔藝術家利用版畫和平面設計作為對社會表達意見與思想的手法，強勁發揮視覺文化藝術的實用性。此展覽將推出美籍華人藝術家鄧剛夫（Jim Dong）、譚瑞香（Nancy Hom）與黃英偉（Leland Wong）的平面設計和海報，以及他們較近期的創作。除了顯現當年在舊金山灣區興起的美籍亞裔藝術運動期間、三位美籍華人的激進活動與其作品所帶動的關鍵性影響，及數十年後的今天所具有的里程碑意義；並將藉由歷史背景、展覽及其附帶出版的目錄來闡述創作材料的廣泛應用對這些藝術家們所產生的影響。

　　在構想方面，《存在的印記》與即將在舊金山狄昂博物館展出的《亞洲／美國／現代藝術：1900年至1970年間的轉勢》（“Asian/American/Modern Art: Shifting Currents, 1900-1970”）是為必要的對應。這個具有國際歷史檢索意義的展覽，將從2008年10月25日起展出至2009年1月18日，特別推出美國西岸具代表性的美籍亞裔藝術家作品。由於狄昂博物館的展覽並未含括七十年代或後期的探討，此正值美籍亞裔藝術運動和政治文化崛起的關鍵年代，《存在的印記》則將藉由美籍亞裔藝術積極分子的視覺藝術，重現當年亞裔在美國藝術運動史中的風貌。

　　《存在的印記》無意針對七十與八十年代美籍亞裔活躍份子藝術提供一個絕對的觀點。反之側重於三位藝術家們的作品和思想、與其當時在灣區所扮演的關鍵性角色，這些現今仍然活躍於美國的美籍亞裔藝術家們所能提供的、不僅是獨具表現美國和國際特色的觀點，也是一段經由歷史衝刷後所遺留下的吉光片羽。

此展览由以下机构支持:

Zellerbach Family Foundation, Vincent Woo Foundation, Portsmouth Plaza Parking Corporation, 加州聯合銀行，舊金山藝術基金會,舊金山基金會

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照相 #1：為我們下一代的未來？， 譚瑞香， 1985年
照相 #2：命運， 鄧剛夫， 2007年
照相 #3：舞劍示範， 黃英偉

When: October 23, 2008 at 6:30PM
Where: Chinese Culture Center
750 Kearny Street, Third Floor (inside the Hilton Hotel)

The public is invited to attend the opening reception of the Chinese Culture Center’s new exhibition, Icons of Presence: Asian American Activist Art, organized by guest curator and scholar Margo Machida.
Be one of the first to discover this wonderful exhibition while enjoying refreshments!

Chinese Culture Foundation Annual Fundraising Dinner

For more info visit: http://www.c-c-c.org/archives/2008/10/09/join-us-for-harmony-bliss-2008/