~DACHAL CHOI, EMILY WANG & CICI WU . . ‘LOOKING INTO SPOTLESS RAIN’ / ASSEMBLY ROOM
‘LOOKING INTO SPOTLESS RAIN’ – CURATED BY YULIA TOPCHIY
DACHAL CHOI, EMILY WANG, CICI WU
OPENED . . FRI NOV 30
the show runs thru . . JAN 19, 2019
ASSEMBLY ROOM, 191 HENRY ST., LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC 10002
HRS: WED-SUN 12 – 6 PM
ASSEMBLY ROOM . . .
is a new indie / curator-run storefront gallery / project space on Henry St. in the L.E.S.
aiming to be . . “a platform for independent women curators” – the space invites Both diversity and community / as well as offering “open calls” . . for ideas & programming.
The space opened this past SEPT 2018 & this is only their 3rd show – I was quite engaged by the 3 young artists at their opening.
read more about: the 3 co-founders – PAOLA GALLIO, NATASHA BECKER, YULIA TOPCHIY
DACHAL CHOI . . at the opening.
born in Seoul, KOREA, her work questions . . “instability and uncertainty within individuals and the societies of which they are members . . .”
~ASSEMBLY ROOM
DACHAL CHOI . .
‘Untitled (After Eutheria)’, 2018.
mouse trap, engraved metal, silicone, resin, hair & RFID chips.
dimensions variable.
I found it intriguing that this was a ‘grouping’, and yet so stone cold.
and yet . . so dark and curious. the small scale, as well as the fact that most of the sculptural grouping, lay on the floor . . led to audience / interactive impulses. so imaginative, so ‘narrative’, & yet exceptionally . . industrial at heart / but, with a cachet of magic & ancestral fables (the long black pony tail) at heart. dark heart ? playful, IDK.
I also half- expected the metal boxes – to get up, and skitter away . . on nano-robotic feet !!
so, I later read that the cold steel / metal boxes were actual mouse traps – which only intensified the context / and amplified logic of the floor setting.
a friend of the artist, told me at the opening . . that the resin ‘mini-sculptures’ were “3-D” print-outs of Brancusi sculptures.
again, the implied poetry and, the industrial level . . both – raised up a BIG, couple of notches.
though, vs Brancusi (‘The Kiss’), overall, I did feel overall, there was a deep, sad heart at play here.
I guess you should go walk amongst this . . mini-sculpture park for yourself, get lost in reverie, sensuousness. and technical abandon / & come to your own . . conclusions.
EMILY WANG, in front of her large watercolor.
both an artist and a musician, Ms. Wang performs under her solo project Lima Rei, and with the band Dies Smely.
EMILY WANG, ‘At the edge of time’, 2018.
watercolor, pencil, charcoal, oil on paper.
46 x 34 in.
again, this is really something you need to get up close and personal with / to experience at the fullest. secrets & emotions . . run subtle, deep and powerful in this show.
“spotless rain” . . . ???
detail, EMILY WANG, ‘At the edge of time’.
there was also a very ‘technical’ side to this piece as well, all was not . . poetry.
the subtle / powerful yin yang / give & take . . technique of watercolor painting, vs the effect of ‘colored’ oil paint on paper, the effect of water, equated the presence of passing time.
passing thoughts: brush in hand / in free-fall.
CICI WU, a large and seemingly . . fragile hanging.
Cici Wu was born in Beijing, and raised in Hong Kong.
Her work has been exhibited at 47 Canal, as well as other venues, both here and abroad.
She has been the co-organizer of an artist-run residency & exhibition space, PRACTICE, since 2015.
one gets the sense of fragile, yet ready-made / strong and sturdy despite the willow-i-ness. plastic is indestructible, and though (organic) flowers do come and go, flowers hopefully, will always . . bloom.
a happy thought to depart on. & a sense one gets about all 3 of these young women.
a cosmic diagram in a basket ?
the power of the life force / the universe, the creative impulse ?
the tantric road map. the signs that a pencil can make.
let’s hope so !! or maybe, then again . . . not.
grounded !! humbled.
the kite / the ribbon. the thought ‘balloon’ . . is tethered to the floor.
what does this say, about our humanity & shared experiences.., limitations and also genetic ‘common sense’ / despite our diversity and very different origins.
PAOLA GALLIO, NATASHA BECKER & YULIA TOPCHIY – the 3 co-founders of ASSEMBLY ROOM.
Yulia Topchiy . . curated ‘Looking into Spotless Rain’ / their 3rd show.
‘Looking into Spotless Rain’ . . is up thru JAN 19, 2019.