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Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center's 11th Annual United States of Asian America Festival 2008 Presents

Flo Oy Wong

70/30: Seventy Years of Living, Thirty Years of Art

To honor the exhibition showcasing her work: Flo Oy Wong, 70/30: Seventy Years of Living/Thirty Years of Art, APICC produced a celebratory publication, through an exciting and historical collaboration of ideas and images with multifaceted artist, writer and curator Nancy Hom, Associate Professor of Art History and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut, Margo Machida and pioneer Asian American journalist, William Wong. The Publication, which contains representative pieces from all her projects, traces Wong's artistic growth through her own words. Documenting Wong's journey into the arts and her process of extracting people's stories and creating art from them provides an inspirational story that is at the core of artistic expression. APICC considers this a profound opportunity to collaborate with these exceptional people in presenting a look at a seminal American artist.

Flo Oy Wong's powerfully evocative sculptural works, though rooted in Chinese journeys in the United States, are more appropriately stories about American history that transcend racial lines. Wong seeks to facilitate the dialogue that brings about a greater understanding of how similar our stories really are. — Kim Curry-Evans, Director, 40 Acres Gallery

Flo Oy Wong illuminates hidden stories of the Chinese American past, contributing needed dimension to our understanding of Asian American experiences. Her work breaks silences born of fear and necessity, revealing the threads of interethnic friendship and the power of reclaiming history. — Valerie Matsumoto, Associate Professor, UCLA

Flo Wong is a storyteller. Narrative is the lifeblood — the cultural DNA — of the artworks she makes. Her stories — of rice sacks, her family's Oakland Chinatown cafe, a murdered Chinese man to whom Flo offered bitter melons, Angel Island — are personal and yet bigger than herself. She passes them along as an elder in the tribe of Chinese in America. — Hung Liu, Artist

The 64 page book is richly illustrated with 46 color plates.
Paperback | $22.00 list price.
ISBN: 978-1-60585-420-5

Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco & S.F. International Arts Festival Present in association with APICC

"Lure" by artist Beili Liu

The Chinese Cultural Center of San Francisco presents "Lure", a dramatic installation by Michigan-based artist Beili Liu. In her first Bay Area solo showing, Liu explores the Chinese myth of the invisible Red Thread that binds lovers by the ankle from birth. With each passing day, the thread pulls them closer until at last they find each other, overcoming distance and social and cultural divides. "Lure 1", the highlight of the installation, makes use of hundreds of paired coils of red thread delicately suspended in the gallery. Subtle air currents set the red disks swaying and turning slowly like water lilies as the loose strands of thread on the floor drift and become entangled. With a little effort, visitors can discover the connected "couples", though the swaying disks have their own "moves" and "affairs" regardless of the lines and connections beneath.

Beili Liu is known for her uncanny ability to transform simple, everyday materials in curious ways that are evocative of both her Chinese heritage and her experience in the United States. Her elegant installations and sculptural work explore transience, fragility and the passing of time.

Runs May 9 - July 5th, 2008
Chinese Culture Center Gallery
750 Kearny Street, Third Floor (inside the Hilton Hotel)
Gallery Hours Tue.-Sat, 10-4
Admission: Free

After the Revolution: Contemporary Iranian Photography from California and Tehran

Participating Artists

Tehran: Mahboube Karamli, Parham Taghioff , Morteza Khaki, Meysam Mahfouz, Mehraneh Atashi
California: Amir H. Fallah, Shadi Yousefian, Elhum Amjadi, Naciem Nikkhah, and Parisa Taghizadeh

The San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery is pleased to present After the Revolution, a groundbreaking group exhibition of contemporary photography by Iranian artists from Tehran and California as part of our ongoing Art at City Hall program.

After the Revolution is the first substantial exhibition mounted in the US featuring photography by young emerging artists from Tehran. In addition, the work from Tehran will be exhibited alongside photographs by emerging artists of Iranian descent living in California, thus creating a rich dialogue around the hopes and concerns of Iranians and the Iranian Diaspora. After the Revolution will feature approximately 100 photographs by the participating artists. The artists, all under the age of 40, were born around or after the 1978 Iranian Revolution.

After the Revolution will be located at San Francisco City Hall, the seat of local government and a premiere venue for the exhibition of artworks engaged in a civic dialogue. America's current political relationship with Iran is strained at best, and it is important during these tense times to reflect on the human experience. Contemporary art is a powerful tool to break down barriers and bring to light common experiences while celebrating disparate perspectives. It is evident in the photographs featured in After the Revolution that these young artists are grappling with a society caught between traditional values and contemporary innovation. The work highlights both the distinction between public and private spaces, as well as the specific nature of public and private expression within Iranian culture.

This exhibition is supported by the San Francisco Arts Commission, Azita Raji & Gary Syman, Electric Works, PhotoAlliance, Grants for the Arts, and Page Imageworks.

Hours: Monday - Friday, 8am - 8pm, admission is free to the public

 

Major Funders

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