The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean
On view:
through
The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean
The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean centers the artistic production of the Asian diaspora in the regions from the 1940s to the present. Focusing on postwar and contemporary art, the exhibition showcases the work of thirty artists from fifteen countries working in a range of artistic mediums including painting, sculpture, performance, photography, and video, to shed light into strategies and themes that resonate across a wide array of Asian diasporic practice throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
The exhibition embraces and performs the multiple and interrelated meanings embedded in the notion of appearance, inspired by Japanese Brazilian artist Lydia Okumura’s 1975 print by the same title. 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. The show also addresses abstraction as a formal strategy linked to language, the senses, and the body in the context of the Americas’ postwar art.
Conceived as an appearance in and of itself, the show sheds light on the often-overlooked experiences and artistic trajectories of Asian diasporic subjects and collectives across Latin America and the Caribbean, casting them as both grounded in their particular context and constitutive of broader transnational histories.
To accompany the show, we will present a series of public programs and publish a catalogue.
This exhibition is co-curated by Tie Jojima, former associate curator and manager of Exhibitions at Americas Society in New York, and Yudi Rafael, independent curator and researcher based in São Paulo, Brazil.
The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean Pocket Book
This is a publication released to accompany Americas Society’s exhibition focused on Asian diasporic artists from Latin America and the Caribbean.
The exhibition, which opens on September 4, sheds light on the work and experiences of artists of Asian origin or descent in the regions.
Join Art at Americas Society as the Asianish collective founders share their perspectives on community and their practice.
The two institutions host an afternoon-long program, which includes an artist spotlight, a roundtable, and a keynote presentation by Tao Leigh Goffe.
The Venezuelan-Korean artist will make their debut performance as part of the Art at Americas Society's Performance Series.
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, Elena Matsuura, Maggie Miqueo, Antonio Murzi, Gabriela Pérez Rocchietti, Marco Pappalardo and Cintya Poletti Pappalardo, Carolina Pinciroli, Erica Roberts, Patricia Ruiz-Healy, Sharon Schultz, and Edward J. Sullivan.
