MENU
2005 – 2006

15th AAAC Annual: Aphasia

September 23 – October 28, 2005

This exhibition concerns itself more with a variety of subjective and ethnic themes than one overriding motif. If we look for a common Asian theme in the work of these artists, we will find that the show may seem a bit confused. Several of these artists are similar, however, in their use of digital and mixed new media and of images from commodities, games, and popular interpretations of alien beings. An artists’ talk was held October 2. Learn more: flyer, press release, artist statement.

Selection panelists:
Participating artists:

Detained

March 24 – May 5, 2006

An Arab American and Asian American exhibition aimed to bring two communities together around issues of race, exclusion, and spirituality. Chaplain James Yee, born and raised in New Jersey, chose to convert to Islam after serving in the US Army during the Gulf War, several years before being secretly arrested while serving at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on allegations of espionage. He was detained for 76 days before all criminal charges were dropped. Aside from the issues raised by this incident are the underlying spiritual questions – an American, and an Asian American, graduate of West Point who chose to convert to Islam. It is this personal narrative that may enable people to relate to each other, not just intellectually with information and knowledge but to see and encounter each other in a different light. Organized by Rabab Abdulhadi, Director, Center for Arab American Studies, University of Michigan, and Robert Lee, executive director of AAAC. Panel talks, etc., are projected with the assistance of the James Yee ad hoc Support Committee. Learn more: flyer, artist statement.

Participating artists:

Chinatown Work 2006

April 18 – May 21, 2006

Sponsored by the artists with support from AAAC, Rebuild Chinatown Initiative, Explore Chinatown Campaign, and Chinatown Partnership LDC. Every evening from 7:30 to 11pm, the façade of HSBC Bank at 58 Bowery near Manhattan Bridge was the site for an interactive art installation. Silhouettes of pedestrians mix the footage of interior work spaces with time-lapse exterior street images of unique areas that define New York’s Chinatown contemporary work culture. The interactive and responsive installation prompts passerbys to participate and to recognize and celebrate this community and the working people who make it. Learn more.

Participating artists:

New York Eviction Blues II

May 15 – June 9, 2006

An art exhibition calling attention to the citywide problem of housing for artists and art organizations. A silent auction for displayed art work was held to assist the Centre with its legal fees and help it to stay in its home of 31 years. Held at Manhattan Borough President’s Office. Sponsored by Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer.

Participating artists:
Additional artists:

Mayumi Terada / Choong Sup Lim at Mid Career

May 19 – June 24, 2006

Choong Sup Lim deals with the dichotomies of east/west, interior/exterior, rural/urban, and nature/industry through the contradictions and paradoxes in his work. Forms and materials are carefully selected for their capacity to conjure multiple associations. He has been working both in the United States and in Korea. Since 2001, Mayumi Terada has been building dollhouse-sized interior spaces from balsa wood, styrofoam. and clay, then photographing and enlarging them into large silver gelatin prints. A sense of absence emerges from recent evidence of a presence in these sparsely-furnished rooms. Terada has lived in New York City for the past few years, exhibiting in Los Angeles, NYC, Korea, Tokyo and other cities throughout Japan. Learn more: flyer, press release.

Participating artists:

Yoshiki Araki: Hiroshima Born

July 7 – August 11, 2006

Yoshiki Araki died in 2000. He was born in March of 1950. His mother, as a young teenager, went into what was left of Hiroshima, the ruins of that nuclear wasteland, to search for her father, last of an old Samari family, but never found him. As a young man Yoshiki did make it to New York studying at the Art Students League,. In 2000 he was evicted from his home and studio in Brooklyn of many years that was filled with his art works and preparing for many more. Under the stress and tension of trying to find a new space to accomodate all that he had gathered and planned, within a month Araki became ill and had to be hospitalized. He died shortly thereafter. Today we have yet to come to terms with the inhumanity of Hiroshima. In the darkness of that moment, as a second generation survivor, Yoshiki sought its quest in his art. His work may still offer us clues as to a journey we have yet to take. Some of his paintings and sculptures that he left behind is preserved in the AAAC Permanent Collection. Curated by Robert Lee & Sayaka Araki.

Hiroshima Legacy: The Art of Yoshiki Araki was a panel talk on August 6, 2006, featuring: Jesse Fuchs, artist; Tristan Wolski, artist; Raphael Mostel, Tibetan Singing Bowl Ensemble; Sayaka Araki; Peaceful Tomorrows; September 11 Families; David McReynolds, the War Resisters League; Robert Lee, Moderator.

Learn more: flyer, poster, review.

Participating artists:

Aphasia: 15th Annual Exhibition

Sept 23 - Oct 28, 2005

Learn More: Press Release, Artist Statement, Newspaper Article.