- Exhibition Dates: May 6, 2023 – May 20, 2023
- Curator: Jiyoung Lee (AHL Foundation’s Director of Programs)
- Artists: Austin Li Chang, Enzo Lee, Chucky Kim x Nak, and Jean Oh
- Opening Reception: Saturday, May 6, 3-5pm
- Gallery hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 11AM-5PM
- Free and open to the public
- Venue: AHL Project Space
- 2605 Frederick Douglass Blvd., New York, NY 10030
Curatorial Statement
Since 2003, AHL Foundation proudly presents emerging Korean artists active in the United States to foster careers and gain communal support to introduce their works in New York City. We celebrate the stories of immigrant artists regardless of age, gender and nationality and continue to provide them with opportunities and platforms to support their creative endeavors.
Based on the path of Foundation’s past 20 years, Dear D, features four artists from different fields who explore how desire can be used as a tool to engage with the world. Diasporic and immigrant desires reveal the inner worlds of marginalized bodies and minds that negotiate their futures.
As Gilles Deleuze wrote, desire is not about satisfying a lack but about creating new possibilities and intensities. Dear D – we write a letter to our desires. We make art not to passively meet our desires but to seek them out. This letter is sent perpetually to a destination named desire.
From paintings, videos, to music, the medium employed in this exhibition responds to the transformative and intimate power of desire. We hope to spark conversations about the complex relationships between desire, identity, and artistic practice through the work of Austin Li Chang, Enzo Lee, Chuck Kim x Nak, and Jean Oh.
Austin Li Chang intimately renders portraits of his family and friends. Painting uprooted personalities in acquired rest and play, he reflects that what may appear to marginalize on first impression is as innately human as the potential for understanding and desire. Austin’s work centers around his exploration of interdependency. He creates visual dialogues spotlighting ways the environment gestures with its constituents, with the aim to decondition the senses from everyday, sovereign structures.
Enzo Lee started to write down his feelings, thoughts, and experiences to study himself, hoping to gain control over his life. Over time, the habit naturally evolved into something more and became not only a form of recording but also a form of expression. Over time, the habit naturally evolved into something more and became not only a form of recording but also a form of expression. His own voice and desire, the art.
Chucky Kim x Nak present People listen with their eyes. Sound most closely resembles what many call spirit – frequencies blended through compressed air, projected through speakers and instruments. What makes sound ethereal is its physics, the moment it hits our ears it dissipates. Thus the production of sound through material objects like speakers poses a fascinating juxtaposition, a meeting of spiritual and physical. Chucky and Nak’s exploration of this interweaving will explore sound in relationship between such opposing nodes, carving a weaving between what we see and what we hear.
Jean Oh focuses on the subtle imperfections and absurdities that are inherent in our lives, drawing out memories, observations, feelings, and identities from ordinary objects rooted in personal stories and experiences. Jean Oh presents everyday but personal objects, such as couches, human body parts, unreadable faces, scars, family, and old photos, which she zooms in on, rearrange, and repeat using layered, warm, and muted colors. Her process is informed by personal experiences and a desire to express the paradoxical nature of human beings. The form of personal objects that are familiar to most people create a sense of relatability, connecting them with the work and prompting them to reflect on their own experiences.
About Artists
Austin Li Chang is a Taiwanese American artist who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He primarily works with acrylic, oil paint, and photography mediums to depict his personal experience with the East Asian diaspora. He was raised in Houston, Taichung, and Vancouver.
Enzo Lee is a Korean journal artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Enzo first started his journey as an artist by carrying a journal during his teenage years. Uncertain of the future, he started to write down his feelings, thoughts, and experiences to study himself, hoping to gain control over his life. Over time, the habit naturally evolved into something more and became not only a form of recording but also a form of expression. His own voice, the art. Enzo published his first book of essays and poems, “Bird in Space”, in 2014. Realizing that the voice shouldn’t be limited by any specific medium, he went on to study filmmaking to learn multi-dimensional aspects of art. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Filmmaking from School of Visual Arts, and works on a permanent video journal series called “Piece of Life”. Currently there are about 140 episodes online. Since 2020 COVID, Enzo also started to explore the medium of painting and is now expressing journals through large paintings. Enzo is pursuing to develop his philosophy and artistry of using a journal as a tool to live life itself as a form of art, the “Piece of Enzo”.
Chucky Kim x Nak
Chucky Kim is a music producer, technologist, and educator. He has Billboard-charting hits with artists such as Jay Park, Taeyang, Kai, Babyface, and Mary Lambert. Currently, he is the Head of Music Experience at Artiphon, designing new interactive instruments and experiences, in addition to serving as faculty at Columbia University, the Juilliard School, and researcher at the MIT Media Lab. Most importantly, he is a dog dad to the cutest two rescue pups in the world, Oliver and Annie.
Nak Whether he’s playing big rooms or selecting at intimate venues, Nak (mdnghtdiningclub) connects with the crowd. The New York-based DJ/producer’s taste and curiosity for all styles of music combine with his positive energy on the dancefloor, and his fun, effortless sets always keep people moving. Nak also designs and builds home speakers and large-format sound systems — his intention is to explore and share immersive audio experiences with likeminded individuals and the community alike.
Jean Oh is a New York-based artist who holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA from Pratt Institute. Oh is the recipient of the Silver Award for AHL-T&W Foundation Contemporary Visual Art Awards. Oh’s solo exhibitions include Nars Foundation and Iron Velvet Gallery in New York, as well as in group shows such as Transitions (NeueHouse Madison Square, 2021) and Something from Nothing Art (Space 776 Gallery, 2020)
About Curator
Jiyoung Lee is the current Director of Programs at AHL Foundation. Her previous experience includes work as an online communications manager at the Asia Culture Center, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as well as an internship at Queens Museum. During her career, Jiyoung has organized a range of exhibitions and programs, including AHL Foundation’s Award Recipients Exhibitions and its annual Gala, Art in the Workplace exhibitions at Bank of Hope, and ACC International Round Table (2017-2019). She has also managed AHL Foundation’s AKAA project (Archive of Korean Artists in America), where she updated its interface, developed an archival manual, and led AKAA research fellows’ projects. Jiyoung graduated from Pratt Institute (2021) with a Master’s degree in Museums and Digital Culture.
- Special Thanks to Sook Nyu Lee Kim, Brian You and Youbin Kang
Artists Bios
Austin Li Chang, SUSPENSION, 2022, Acrylic, Vinyl on Linen, 40 X 50”
Enzo Lee, ENZO PIECE OF LIFE SERIES, 2022, Video
Chucky Kim x Nak, People listen with their eyes, 2022, Sound Installation
Jean Oh, The Bruise, 2023, Acrylic on sewn canvas, 9”x12”
