“1975” Exhibition
Topaz Arts
This event has ended.
TOPAZ ARTS presents “1975” – a group exhibition curated by
Chuong-Dai Vo, featuring contemporary art by three female artists from Cambodia Anida Yoeu Ali, Amy Lee Sanford, and LinDa Saphan on view through May 26, 2013. Viewing hours are Saturdays 12–4pm or by request at rsvp@topazarts.org. TOPAZ ARTS is located at 55-03 39th Avenue in Woodside, Queens. Easily accessible by subway: #7 to 61st Street or R to Northern Blvd; directions >
“1975” brings together three women of the Cambodian Diaspora whose works exemplify the dynamic contemporary art scene in Phnom Penh: Anida Yoeu Ali’s photographs and video installation recall life in a refugee camp following the fall of the Khmer Rouge; Amy Lee Sanford’s video and photographs share with viewers the process of uncovering a difficult history, the turmoil of the late 1960s and 1970s, as told in letters written by a father she never knew; and LinDa Saphan’s drawings of apartment buildings and architectural monuments in current-day Phnom Penh take us back to her mother’s memories of living there.
About the Artists:
Anida Yoeu Ali is an artist and scholar whose works span performance, installation, video, poetry, public encounters, and political agitation. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to art-making, her installation and performance works investigate the artistic, spiritual and political collisions of a hybrid transnational identity. She is a collaborative partner with Studio Revolt, an independent artist-run media lab in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where she currently resides. For further details about her work and process, visit www.studio-revolt.com.
Amy Lee Sanford is a Cambodian-American visual artist who works across media, from drawing and sculpture to performance and video. Her art addresses the evolution of emotional stagnation, and the lasting psychological effects of war, including aspects of guilt, loss, alienation, and displacement. She was born in Phnom Penh during the Lon Nol government of the early 1970s. Her father, an intellectual, sent her out of the country with his American wife nine months before the Khmer Rouge took over the country. Currently, she is an artist-in-residence with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, as part of the Season of Cambodia initiative taking place in NYC. Her work can be seen online at www.amyleesanford.com.
LinDa Saphan was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Fleeing the Khmer Rouge regime, she and her family lived for more than two decades in Canada and France. In 2005, Saphan co-organized Visual Arts Open in Phnom Penh, a landmark contemporary art festival that introduced Cambodian artists to the international art market. Recognizing a lack of resources to support women artists in Cambodia, she established the “Selapak Neari” program the same year, providing workshops, networking opportunities, and an exhibition space for emerging artists. Additionally, she curated the first group exhibition at the Ministry of Fine Arts and Culture. Saphan earned a PhD in Social Anthropology from the Sorbonne in 2007. Her work can be seen online at www.saphan.info.
About the Curator:
Chương-Đài Võ is an independent curator and writer based in New York City and a Visiting Scholar at MIT. Her curatorial and scholarly work focus on how war and diasporic migrations affect the production of literature, cinema and visual culture, in particular in the circuits between Asia and the U.S. She has received fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, the Fulbright Program and the University of California Pacific Rim Research Program, among others. Her most recent project was a co-curated group exhibition titled War is for the Living.
Media
Schedule
from April 27, 2013 to May 26, 2013
Opening Reception on 2013-04-27 from 18:00 to 20:00