On April 26th, the Museum of Chinese in America will launch two new exhibitions, America through a Chinese Lens and June 4, 1989: Media and Mobilization Beyond Tiananmen Square, on view through September 10th.
Our friend Hai Zhang is one of the photographers who will exhibit at America through a Chinese Lens exhibition.
Featuring photographs and projects by:
Yan Deng
Wing Young Huie
Wayne Liu
Arthur Ou
Julie Quon
Ka-Man Tse
Tseng Kwong-Chi
Ann Woo
An Xiao
Amy Yao
Chien-An Yuan
Hai Zhang
Jiajia Zhang +
community photographs from MOCA’s collection
Organized by Curator and Director of Exhibitions Herb Tam, America through a Chinese Lens surveys more than 60 photographs by Chinese artists, documentary photographers, and non-professional enthusiasts living in the United States, Europe, and China. Drawing from MOCA’s extensive permanent collection of Chinese photography and the work of contemporary artists, the images depict American life in all of its beauty, contradictions, and realities from a uniquely Chinese perspective and span several generations: from historic photographs taken by newly arrived immigrants in the 1940s to artists working today.
The show will unite communities of diverse photographers, from those situated in MOCA’s surrounding Chinatown neighborhood to contemporary artists based around New York, across this country, and in Europe and China. These artists explore such archetypal themes as the American landscape, the inner-city and suburban experience of marginalized communities, and the dislocation and absurdities of living in a foreign country.
In a series of exceptional snapshots by non-professional photographers, family life, political realities, and historic moments are intimately captured, reflecting the spirit of a rapidly changing country. Coursing through many of the images is a pervasive sense of unease and disconnection from mainstream American life, though the photographs themselves may be viewed as an inspired attempt at cultural mediation.
The exhibition includes a social media project titled An Xiao’s Streethaiku in America: Over the course of the exhibition, new media artist and design strategist An Xiao will be photographing her travels throughout the west and southwest of America and posting them on MOCA’s tumblr page: chineseinamerica.tumblr.com.