Irrelevant: Local Emerging Asian Artists Who Don't Make Work About Being Asian is a massive group exhibition at Arario showcasing the work of over 50 Asian-American artists whose races are "irrelevant" to the art they produce. As the show's press release states, Irrelevant "highlight[s] artists who are more American than Asian, based in New York, and embedded in an expansive community of emerging artists struggling to show and succeed in this cutthroat city." Through the exhibit curators Joann Kim and Lesley Sheng aim to "formulate a community, building a foundation for artists to gather and exchange ideas and experiences."
Irrelevant is "a friendly and humorous, and somewhat ridiculous, rejection of a neurotic art market and its obsession with specifying artists to a particular culture and ethnicity." While I understand and appreciate the show's mission to highlight young, local Asian artists while separating them from stereotypical niches, I wish the subtitle of the show were less snarky. It sounds like it snubs Asian-American artists who do focus their work on their culture and identity - and there's nothing wrong with that. With a vast array of works ranging from painting, photography, sculpture, drawing, installation, video, and performance, Irrelevant is an ambitious and impressive survey that introduces visitors to many talented, "underrepresented," up-and-coming artists. Learn more at ararionewyork.com. Through August 6th.
Hidemi Takagi, Blender, 2007-10
Satomi Shirai, Itch, 2006
Kako Ueda, Reciprocal Pain, 2009
Joel Morrison, Blank Tape Head, 2010
Tadashi Moriyama, Suns, Moons and Towers, 2010
R & D, Garniture, n.d.
Hein Koh, Puking, Crying Cat, 2010
Hong Seon Jang, Black Deer, 2008
Kikuko Tanaka, A Tragic Bambi_Mother's Tears, 2009-Present
Heige Kim, Sulfur, 2010
Injoo Whang, Untitled, 2006
Eungho Park, #7 Train and Beyond, 1996
Seung Ae Kim, The Hybrid Garden (Lamb's ear), 2008 and The Hybrid Garden (Poppy flower), 2008
Seongmin Ahn, A Circle Is Not A Circle 3, 2006
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