Exhibition

The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean

Suwon Lee, Time to be Invisible, 2021.

Suwon Lee, Time to be Invisible, 2021.

The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean

On view: through

The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean centers the artistic production of the Asian diaspora in the regions from the 1940s to the present. Focusing on postwar and contemporary art, the exhibition showcases the work of thirty artists from fifteen countries working in a range of artistic mediums including painting, sculpture, performance, photography, and video, to shed light into strategies and themes that resonate across a wide array of Asian diasporic practice throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

The exhibition embraces and performs the multiple and interrelated meanings embedded in the notion of appearance, inspired by Japanese Brazilian artist Lydia Okumura’s 1975 print by the same title. From acts of appearing and becoming visible—including different types of apparitions—to the idea of impressions and physical resemblance, artists in the show grapple with the complexities of negotiating (in)visibility, revisiting and remaking family archives and stories, and engaging and reconfiguring spiritual practices. The show also addresses abstraction as a formal strategy linked to language, the senses, and the body in the context of the Americas’ postwar art. 

Conceived as an appearance in and of itself, the show sheds light on the often-overlooked experiences and artistic trajectories of Asian diasporic subjects and collectives across Latin America and the Caribbean, casting them as both grounded in their particular context and constitutive of broader transnational histories. 

To accompany the show, we will present a series of public programs and publish a catalogue. 

This exhibition is co-curated by Tie Jojima, former associate curator and manager of Exhibitions at Americas Society in New York, and Yudi Rafael, independent curator and researcher based in São Paulo, Brazil.

Selected Works from the Exhibition
Lydia Okumura, The Appearance, 1975

Lydia Okumura, The Appearance, 1975

Mario N. Ishikawa, Untitled, from the Smoke series, 1984

Mario N. Ishikawa, Untitled, from the Smoke series, 1984

Chantal Peñalosa Fong, Fong, 2023

Chantal Peñalosa Fong, Fong, 2023

Albert Chong, Natural Mystic, 1982

Albert Chong, Natural Mystic, 1982

Dan Lie, Memory Stick ou Pau de Memória, 2015

Dan Lie, Memory Stick ou Pau de Memória, 2015

Alice Yura, Foto Yura I, 2022

Alice Yura, Foto Yura I, 2022

Suchitra Mattai, Bloom, 2022

Suchitra Mattai, Bloom, 2022

Lydia Okumura, The Appearance, 1975
Mario N. Ishikawa, Untitled, from the Smoke series, 1984
Chantal Peñalosa Fong, Fong, 2023
Albert Chong, Natural Mystic, 1982
Dan Lie, Memory Stick ou Pau de Memória, 2015
Alice Yura, Foto Yura I, 2022
Suchitra Mattai, Bloom, 2022
Installation Images of The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean
Photo: Arturo Sanchez

Photo: Arturo Sanchez

Photo: Arturo Sanchez

Photo: Arturo Sanchez

Photo: Arturo Sanchez

Photo: Arturo Sanchez

Photo: Arturo Sanchez

Photo: Arturo Sanchez

Photo: Arturo Sanchez

Photo: Arturo Sanchez

Photo: Arturo Sanchez

Photo: Arturo Sanchez

Photo: Arturo Sanchez
Photo: Arturo Sanchez
Photo: Arturo Sanchez
Photo: Arturo Sanchez
Photo: Arturo Sanchez
Photo: Arturo Sanchez
Press
Funders

The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean is made possible by generous lead support from Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas). Additional support for the exhibition and related programming is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the Cowles Charitable Trust, the Japan Foundation, Instituto Guimarães Rosa, Carolyn Hsu-Balcer and René Balcer, and the Garcia Family Foundation. In-kind support is provided by Almeida & Dale Galeria de Arte.

Americas Society acknowledges the generous support from the Arts of the Americas Circle members: Amalia Amoedo, Almeida e Dale Galeria de Arte, Estrellita B. Brodsky, Virginia Cowles Schroth, Emily A. Engel, Isabella Hutchinson, Carolina Jannicelli, Diana López and Herman Sifontes, Maggie Miqueo, Antonio Murzi, Gabriela Pérez Rocchietti, Marco Pappalardo and Cintya Poletti Pappalardo, Carolina Pinciroli, Erica Roberts, Patricia Ruiz-Healy, Sharon Schultz, and Edward J. Sullivan.