Jeffrey Deitch's "Wonder Women"
Wonder Women, Jeffrey Deitch’s trailblazing show, is now on display at their Los Angeles gallery on 925 N. Orange Drive till October 22, 2022. Kathy Huang, the curator of the show, also serves as Managing Director, Art Advisory and Special Projects at Jeffrey Deitch. The exhibition was first presented in New York in May 2022 and featured thirty Asian American, diasporic, and non-binary artists displaying themes of wonder, self, and identity through figuration. The expanded version of the show features forty artists.
Curator Kathy Huang never grew up seeing Asian faces in pop and visual culture. In 2020, Huang began putting together a list of Asian American and diasporic artists who she wanted to learn more about. Eventually, she came across Genny Lim’s poem, “Wonder Woman” and a theme for the show crystallised. “For me, the poem emphasised the wonder and curiosity I felt about other Asian American women’s experiences; both within and beyond the art world. Aside from wonder, the title of the poem reminds most people of a superhero. I like the dual meaning of the exhibition title – it opens the show up to exploring identity and self through wonder, but also insists that we are seen as protagonists and maybe even heroines in our present world,” says Huang.
The aforementioned poem by Genny Lim was initially released in 1981, and is about a narrator who wonders if the experiences of Asian women she encounters in everyday life – across decades, nations, and socioeconomic backgrounds – mirror her own. The poem examines the similarities and differences among Asian women as its main protagonists.
Huang’s “Wonder Women” also maintains the same camaraderie amongst its themes and the several artists in the show – many of whom are friends and collaborators across cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Austin, Detroit, and Montréal.
When asked, emerging artist and exhibition participant Bhasha Chakrabarti responds, “With the ease of social media, I have a network that expands beyond my physical whereabouts. I rely on these other thinkers and makers for not only their professional advice but for feedback, critique, discussion, inspiration, and emotional support.”
“I think many of the artists in the show can resonate with a feeling of alienation or even invisibility in Western cultures. I am fortunate to be in a position where it’s possible for me to try to change this bias in a meaningful way.” Huang chooses artists whose works harmonise with the spirit of her curatorial themes. She forges her path by maintaining a holistic vision of the group of artists whilst also ensuring there is a range of painting, drawing, or sculpting works in the exhibition.
While some of the artists in the exhibition inspect the wonder of mythology and legend, others represent the heroines encountered by them in their everyday lives by presenting works that place a strong emphasis on family, community, and history. In “Wonder Women,” several of the works highlight the colonial and patriarchal norms in the West.
The underlying purpose of each artist’s work for the show greatly differs from foundation to content. Yet the works are tied together through a connection that transcends what is visible to the naked eye or memory. Chakrabarti continuously draws from South Asian, Hawaiian, and African-American aesthetic traditions, in order to “recalibrate the dominant epistemological hierarchies which are otherwise dependent on willful erasure.” “For me, art making is a mode of public discourse and a way to imagine solidarities and alternative futures.” Whilst artist and exhibition participant Chitra Ganesh says, “Some of my priorities would be the shape-shifting possibilities of myth, the physical and psychic limits of the body, the idea of circular and non-teleological time, and new ways of embodying desire.”
Aside from dispelling the myth that Asian Americans and other members of the diaspora are one monolithic community, Curator Huang also felt it was crucial to emphasise the scope of these cultures. Beyond the realm of the arts, Huang hopes to see increased and better representation of Asian American and diasporic experiences in pop culture. “I was astonished by the many interpretations of the theme and exhibition title – the resulting show felt incredibly rich because of how each artist chose to approach the theme. It was an incredibly rewarding and meaningful experience to curate this show and I hope that the artists in this show continue to have successful careers,” the eminent curator concludes.
Text by Shreya Ajmani
Image Courtesy: Joshua White and Jeffrey Deitch
Find out more about the exhibition:
https://deitch.com/new-york/exhibitions/wonder-women-curated-by-kathy-huang
