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Tues - Fri: 10 am–6 pm
Asian Arts Initiative
1219 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Vision/Mission
The Asian Arts Initiative's Gallery is a lab for
contemporary Asian American visual artists from Philadelphia and across
the United States. The Gallery's program focuses on communities in the
process of making art and engages the public through exhibitions,
workshops, "slide slams" and other events that interpret traditions and
challenge how we look at art and who participates in it.
History
The Gallery at the Asian Arts Initiative began in Fall
2000
with the exhibition, "Chinatown and Resistance", which highlighted
activist artwork in Chinatowns in Philadelphia, New York, and other
cities. The exhibition was inspired by community opposition to a
proposed baseball stadium project just north of Philadelphia's
Chinatown. The community protests and the exhibition contributed to the
successful cancellation of the Chinatown stadium project.
Since that inaugural show, the Gallery Program has featured artists such as muralist Omar Ramirez, community artist Tomie Arai, printmaker Fujiko Isomura, local painter Eurhi Jones, New York's Godzookie Asian American artist network, and graffiti/installation artist Jeff Cylkowski. Recent highlights include: “Love Triangles... the Asian Soap Opera Exhibition “ (Spring ’05), an exploration of romance, politics, sociology, and family relations portrayed in Asian soap operas, “Chinatown In/flux” (Fall ’05-Winter ‘06), a community-wide art exhibition which investigated the changing demographics and the shifting landscape and perspective within Philadelphia's Chinatown community and our “Alumni Show” (Fall ‘06-Spring ‘07), one of our final exhibitions at 1315 Cherry Street that honored the everyday artists who make the Asian Arts Initiative possible. Each winter the Gallery has also featured an exhibition or artwork created by student artists in Asian Arts Initiatives Youth Arts Workshops.
Structure
Gallery Staff and Volunteers
The Gallery Coordinator and/or the Program Manager operate the
Gallery Program. A volunteer Gallery Project team also
assists in the planning, curating, and implementing exhibitions,
receptions, workshops, and "visioning" meetings.
The Gallery features 4-5 exhibitions each year, with a combination of solo artist exhibitions, group shows, open-call juried exhibitions, and a winter show highlighting the work created by teens in the Initiative's Youth Arts Workshop.
Apply for an exhibition in the Gallery at Asian Arts Initiative
May 17, 1996 - June 14, 1996
Half the Other: Explorations of "Home" in
America (hosted by the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial).
Group exhibition featuring work exploring the immigrant experience and
anti-immigrant sentiment and legislation in the United States.
September 29, 2000 - December 11, 2000
Chinatown and Resistance
Group exhibition of interpretive artwork and archival material
documenting the struggle of Philadelphia's Chinatown residents to
resist development plans that have threatened the neighborhood over the
past 30 years.
December 15, 2000 - February 17, 2001
Closet Artist Exhibition
Group show of photographs and drawings by visual artists who had never
exhibited before.
February 22, 2001 - April 3, 2001
On the Spot
Group exhibition of banners, photographs, and paintings by artists from
the Initiative's team of Gallery volunteers with Jane Locke, Juliet
Shen, Niva Shrestha, and Sean Stoops.
April 10, 2001 - May 27, 2001
Omar Ramirez
Solo exhibit of canvas murals of Los Angeles-based artist Omar Ramirez.
May 31, 2001 - July 20, 2001
Dual Identities
Exhibition featuring work by Fujiko Isomura, printmaker based in
Madison, WI (now San Diego) and Eurhi Jones, a Philadelphia muralist
and painter.
October 2, 2001 - December 7, 2001
Tomie Arai: Printed Matter
Printmaking, paintings, and book art by Tomie Arai, a NYC based
community artist.
December 12, 2001 - February 9, 2002
What You See
Group exhibition featuring work of youth artists in the Initiative's
Youth Arts Workshop.
February 25, 2002 - April 21, 2002
Godzookie: Before and After
Group exhibition featuring members of the New York-based Godzookie, a
network of emerging and established Asian American artists from New
York City.
May 13, 2002 - August 5, 2002
too cute
Group show featuring Asian American artists from around the US,
challenging and indulging in concepts of "cuteness" in Asian pop
culture.
September 12, 2002 - October 14, 2002
Roger Shimomura: Memories of Childhood
Lithographs by Roger Shimomura, from Lawrence, Kansas, focusing on
personal experiences in a Japanese American internment camp during
World War II.
October 24, 2002 - December 3, 2002
Chinatown Scene/Unseen
Group photography exhibition focusing on Chinatowns from across the US
and beyond.
December 13, 2002 - February 15, 2003
Big Picture: What're You Lookin' At?
Visual Art created by high school students in the Initiative's Mural
Art Workshop, taught by local artist, Isaac Lin.
March 6, 2003 - May 30, 2003
Visible Resistance: Anti-War Exhibition
Anti-war group exhibition featuring activist artwork and graphics by
Asian Americans protesting conflicts in the Middle East, South Asia,
and beyond.
June 26, 2003 - August 15, 2003
Momentum
An installation by Jeff Cylkowski, a Philadelphia and Brooklyn-based
painter and performer, inspired by graffiti art and hip hop culture.
October 30, 2003 - January 7, 2004
Robots vs. Monsters
A group exhibition inspired by the aesthetics and concepts of Asian
science-fiction movies, animation, and comics.
January 16, 2004 - March 5, 2004
Big Picture: The Personal is Universal
Visual art created by high school students in Initiative's Mural Art
Workshop, taught by local muralist, Eliseo Silva.
March 19, 2004 - July 2, 2004
The Art of Building Community: Asian Arts
Initiative 10th Anniversary Exhibition
Original artwork, archival images, and a visual timeline exploring the
Initiative's history.
October 28, 2004 - February 25, 2005
Walls: A Visual Conversation
Featuring Nijmie Dzurinko, Rashidah Salam, and Carol Pereira, an
examination of the wall as an instrument of division and separation
through video, photo and installation work.
December 15, 2004 - February 28, 2005
Asian American Community Portraits: Scene Unseen
At the Philadelphia Foundation, an exhibition of teen work from the
Youth Arts Workshops and photographs by Rodney Atienza from the
Initiative's book Chinatown
Lives.
March 16, 2005 - April 29, 2005
Youth Arts Workshop Show
Unveiling of the Mural Arts Workshop Spring Mural Design, to be painted
by the youth workshop attendees in a public outdoor space. And more
artwork from the Mural Arts Workshop, hosted by the Mural Arts Program.
May 19, 2005 - July 29, 2005
Love Triangles... the Asian Soap Opera Exhibition
Featuring digital art, photography, and video by Sung Baik, Swati
Khurana, Laura Kina, Annu P. Matthew, exploring themes of romance,
politics, sociology, and family relations portrayed in Asian soap
operas and what these genres reveal about Asian American experience.
Also with an installation by the Initiative's Rodney Camarce, Rana
Sindhikara, and curator Sean Stoops.
October 21, 2005 - January 29, 2006
Chinatown In/flux Exhibition
A community-wide art exhibition created by seven of today's leading
artists: Tomie Arai, Skowmon Hastanan, Mei-ling Hom, Hirokazu Kosaka,
JiHyun Park, Jean Shin and Steve Wong - investigating the changing
demographics within Philadelphia's Chinatown community, the expanding
geographic borders of the neighborhood, and the shifting of
perspectives among residents and tourists alike. Chinatown In/flux
allows us to see Chinatown with new eyes: as a place of extraordinary
cultural intersections, shifting boundaries, and boundless imagination
- a place inexorably In/flux. Supported with a major grant from The Pew
Charitable Trusts' Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative. Visit chinatowninflux.org.
February 13, 2006 - March 27, 2006
Nitin Mukul Neither Here Nor There Mixed Media ExhibitionApril 3, 2006 - June 2, 2006
August
17 , 2006 - Spring 2007
Clenched Fists, Open Hands: the waters of my ancestors
A multi-media exhibition created by over 30 youth and teaching artists from our summer YouthArtsWorks program. Incorporating a painted mural, collage, photography, and 3-D installation, the exhibition evokes the themes of dislocation, relocation, and hope - what that means to our local community and in a world context.
October
20, 2006 - Spring 2007
Asian Arts Initiative Alumni Show
Our Alumni Show features visual art work from current and past staff, interns, workshop participants, volunteers, and all artists who have been part of the organization since we moved to the Gilbert Building in 1997. As one of our final exhibitions at 1315 Cherry Street, we want to bring together and honor the everyday artists who make the Asian Arts Initiative possible through showing and sharing our creative work.
October 27, 2008 - January 16, 2009
Transplants
Inspired by the Asian Arts Initiative’s own recent experience of
moving multiple times, Transplants examines the life-changing journeys
made by artists and communities ‘transplanted’ from one
place—whether physical or conceptual—to another, revealing
the critical and creative roles that culture, immigration, exile, and
home play in our ideas of ourselves and our world. Transplants shows
the complexities and particularities of communities’ and
individuals’ stories and representations of movement through
space and time.
Curated by Sean Stoops, the exhibition will be based at the Asian Arts Initiative with a video art installation at the International House Video Lounge, a space programmed by InLiquid Art & Design Network.
February 6, 2009 – March 15, 2009
Portraits In Emotion