Exhibitions

March 1 to May 12, 2013

Asian Roots / American Soil: The Photographs of Corky Lee

Corky Lee, a self-taught photographer, has been documenting the vibrant and fast-emerging Asian and Pacific American community for over 40 years. Known as the undisputed unofficial Asian American Photographer Laureate,  the ubiquitous Corky has covered the day to day lives of Asian Pacific Americans as well as historical moments in American history.

Presented with support from the Confucius Institute at Stony Brook University, The Asian American/Asian Research Institution (AAARI), and the Organization of Chinese Americans - Long Island Chapter (OCA-LI)

Exhibition on view March 1–May 12, 2013
Charles B. Wang Center

Free and open to the public

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Five Elements: Six Roots Contemplate Origins in the Spoon Fed World

Complementing the Asian Roots/American Soil exhibition of photographs by Corky Lee, artist Chee Wang Ng presents Five Elements: Six Roots Contemplate Origins in the Spoon Fed World. In this exhibition, Ng explores multiple images and concepts including the five elements of Chinese cosmology; the beauty and symbolism of porcelain (or "China"); and the notions of care, connection, and abundance represented by the bowl and spoon. This aesthetically striking assemblage of images and objects works comes together in an insightful and adventurous exploration of Chinese diasporic identity and experience. 

Recognized for his explorations of identity in the Chinese diaspora, Ng reevaluates, challenges, and recontextualizes traditional Chinese culture in contemporary works that engage elements of ancient allegory, metaphor, and mythology. Ng’s signature motif is that of the rice bowl, often with chopsticks or Chinese-style spoons, as featured in his widely exhibited series Eaten Your Fill of Rice? and in his new Five Elements project. 

... Ng’s projects are profoundly contemporary attempts to define the state of Chineseness, in a way that encompasses everyones attempt, so difficult in todays’ culture, to become a person in his own right. (Jonathan Goodman, Pratt Institute)

... a deeply reflective artist whose knowledge of Chinese culture and symbolism has revealed itself in thought-provoking artworks. His leitmotif of the bowl of rice has repeatedly served different themes, presented in mixed-media installations of photography, video, sound and sometimes painted or drawn form.  (Amy Winter, Director, Godwin-Ternbach Museum)