Americas Society Presents the Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean

August 22, 2024 — Americas Society presents The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & The Caribbean, the first show in New York City to center on the artistic production of the Asian diaspora in the region from the 1950s to the present.

Focusing on postwar and contemporary art, the exhibition showcases the work of twenty-nine artists from fifteen countries working in a range of artistic mediums including painting, sculpture, performance, photography, and video. 

The Appearance sheds light on the often-overlooked experiences and artistic trajectories of Asian diasporic subjects and collectives across Latin America and the Caribbean, contextualizing them within histories of transoceanic migration, displacement, and resettlement. 

The show embraces the multiple and interrelated meanings embedded in the notion of appearance. From acts of appearing and becoming visible—including different types of apparitions—to the idea of impressions and physical resemblance, artists in the show grapple with the complexities of negotiating (in)visibility, revisiting and remaking family archives and stories, and engaging and reconfiguring spiritual practices. 

Conceived as an appearance in and of itself, this exhibition understands diaspora as an embodied experience and as an intellectual concept, underscoring the political implications of positioning oneself as a diasporic subject in order to address historical silences. The Appearance contributes to a broader reflection on the relationship between artistic production and the histories of racialization that intersect in the region, opening space for dialogues that transgress national borders. 

The exhibition includes the artworks of artists like Kazuya Sakai in Argentina, Albert Chong in Jamaica, Wifredo Lam in Cuba, Mimiam Hsu in Costa Rica and Tomie Ohtake, Mario Ishikawa, and Tikashi Fukushima in Brazil. 

Curated by Tie Jojima and Yudi Rafael, this exhibition "mobilizes ‘appearance’ as an open-ended framework whose elusiveness is symptomatic of the conditions of Asian diasporic experiences and whose potential meanings and symbolisms are in constant negotiation and transformation," said the curators. 

To accompany the show, Americas Society will present a series of public programs and publish a catalogue.

Press contact: mediarelations@as-coa.org

Funders 

The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean is made possible by generous lead support from Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas). Additional support for the exhibition and related programming is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the Cowles Charitable Trust, the Japan Foundation, Instituto Guimarães Rosa, Carolyn Hsu-Balcer and René Balcer, and the Garcia Family Foundation. In-kind support is provided by Almeida & Dale Galeria de Arte. 

Americas Society acknowledges the generous support from the Arts of the Americas Circle members: Amalia Amoedo, Almeida e Dale Galeria de Arte, Estrellita B. Brodsky, Virginia Cowles Schroth, Emily A. Engel, Isabella Hutchinson, Carolina Jannicelli, Diana López and Herman Sifontes, Antonio Murzi, Gabriela Pérez Rocchietti, Marco Pappalardo and Cintya Poletti Pappalardo, Carolina Pinciroli, Erica Roberts, Patricia Ruiz-Healy, Sharon Schultz, and Edward J. Sullivan.