By Yi Hai Lai
Kearny Street Workshop (KSW) and Galería de la Raza have recharged their tradition of collaboration with the presentation of dynamic new works by 36 emerging Bay Area artists. Less than a year ago, Claire Light of KSW, Jaime Cortez of Galería, and cohorts dissected the historical concept of cartography, each running with a piece of it. Last month, they came out of their personal deliberation and showcased it at the Galería. The result: atlas(t): a mapping expedition/exhibition equipped by Latino and Asian Pacific American artists, a surprising, coherent dialogue that challenges the status quo of mapping and the limitations of a Euro-centric world.
From the mission statement:
“Our mapmakers do not pretend to cool objectivity. We map familial migrations, death, the demilitarized zone between the Koreas and within San Francisco, physical desire, the encroachment of multi-national corporations on far-flung communities, bathroom graffiti, NATO bombings in the former Yugoslavia, the ‘whitening’ of a single artist, home.”
Jaime Cortez looks at the exhibition:
“I was really struck by the excessiveness that ran through the show. You see a lot of repetition and real obsession of details that keeps coming up. I think that’s a really fascinating thing which is not particular to Asian American or Latino artists. Modern art, traditional ideas, technique and beauty have moved in many different directions. Three hundred years ago, most people had one idea of what a great piece of art was, but now it’s all jumbled up. Formally, when you look at a Michaelangelo sculpture, you could feel the virtue of the artist because you knew they had put in the time. You knew you [couldn’t] create work like that unless you really, really worked at it. Now that the question of high technique isn’t as valuable anymore, [excessiveness is] a way of expressing virtue as an artist. Like a map of Spam, you have to be absolutely dedicated. And you can’t sew 250 bags by hand and fill them with your pubic hair unless you were really ready to go there as an artist. So I have a thing about how obsessiveness is a form of morality — of ‘yes, this shows I worked at this.’”
Go to the show.
Think of it as a small, global village. The village fool will help you find your way.
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Detail from "Latticing" by Pang Hui Lim, 1999, installation.
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Detail from “SPAM/MAPS: World” by Mike Arcega, 2001, Spam,an exploration of U.S. cultural dominance expressed by an intricately detailed map of the world made of dried Spam.
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“Ulysses” by Richard Godinez, 2001, painting, racial migrations have made all of us mestizos.
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“Topography #1: Imaging Home”
by e-mael, 2001, plastic shopping bags, thread, pubic hair.
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Detail from “Parting (Snap)Shot” by Jaime Cortez, 2001, mixed media, a diorama of the intersection of 16th and Mission Streets, with inhabitants and ghosts of those historically displaced.
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“355 Days” by Lark Plen, 2001, a cartoon, photo and found object installation detailing Lark’s 11-month trip around the world.
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Photos by Jaime Cortez.
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Atlas(t) will run through March 31.
- Street Renaming Project, Saturday March 17, departing at noon. (Spearheaded by Claire Light and e-mael.)
- Closing performance, Saturday, March 31, 8 p.m.
Galería de la Raza, 2857 24th Street (@ Bryant Street), San Francisco. 415-826-8009. Gallery hours: Tuesday to Saturday 12 to 6 p.m. |
