New York, NY – LATITUDE Gallery is excited to announce the opening of a solo show by Charlie Mai – A Little Good For A Long Time. The show is concocted with a homonymous large-scale performative installation and assorted ceramic figurines – the paradigm of Charlie’s mediums. This special Lunar New Year show will be on view from Feb 4th to 23rd. The opening reception is 6-8 PM on Saturday, Feb 4th.
Charlie’s pieces often extend from folk Chinese imagery and American cultural marks. The exterior of the installation consists of four office-drawn blinds. The interior of the space is four “⼋骏图 (bā jùn tú)/ Eight Steeds” – a classic Chinese painting of eight steeds that are often hung in offices and businesses to bring financial stability and success. In Eight Steeds, the horses gallop in the same direction as a display of their vibrant spirits, racing towards their prosperous future. Humorously connecting four Eight Steeds in the shape of a merry-go-round, Charlie portrays the reality that the reward for the pursuit of wealth is a further pursuit of wealth. One could easily argue that Eight Steeds has layered significances and symbolisms and that it would be an oversimplification to use it as a symbol of the pursuit of wealth. However, the satire is that the multitude of ⼋骏图/ Eight Steeds’ metaphors is parallel to the multifactorial struggle of Asian ethics being exploited to “model minorities” in American society.
Theatrical elements have always been a crucial component in Charlie’s pieces. The segmentation of spaces in A Little Good For A Long Time is created not only by materiality but also intangibles. The difference in lights separates the interior from the exterior. The fixtures are designed to segregate the interior from the exterior but let lights penetrate the blinds with moderation. The subtle breach of borders invites the audience to participate in the piece by peeking into the curtains to view the paintings – blurring the boundaries and becoming the bridge.
For anyone who is familiar with Chinese households and the American world, Charlie’s pieces manage to manipulate and mix the familiar visuals from different worlds seamlessly and amusingly. The installation is a choreographed pairing of his family’s “Asianess” and adoption of the American suburb in the pursuit of capital, safety, and stability. The figurines are only as relevant, intercultural, and intergenerational if not even more than the installation. We are more than excited to invite you to come and enjoy A Little Good For A Long Time. After all, it is a show that cannot be summarized in words.
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm, Sunday from 12 pm to 5 pm. For press inquiries please contact press@latitudegallerynyc.com, (+1) 312 508 2615. For other inquiries please contact the gallery at info@latitudegallerynyc.com.
Exhibition Dates
February 4 – 23, 2023 (extended to Feb 27, 2023)
Curator
Shuang Cai
Opening Reception
February 2, 2023, 18:00 – 20:00
Venue
LATITUDE Gallery
64A Bayard Street, New York NY 10013
For more information, please visit:
About Artist
Charlie Mai (B. 1995 Arlington VA) lives in Bogotá, Colombia, working between sculpture and performance to investigate the lineage of immigration both personal and collective, assimilative and resistant. Through his objects he examines the luxury knock-off as an intersection of wealth, truth and scammery. In his performance and installation he uses found objects and recognizable images to transform the seemingly familiar/ anonymous into something desperate and devious.
About Gallery
Aiming to foster an Asian Diaspora art community, LATITUDE Gallery New York was founded in 2020 by Artist Shihui Zhou. Owned and directed by an Asian female artist and entrepreneur, LATITUDE Gallery is an art gallery and curatorial platform with a non-exclusive focus on emerging artists of Asian descent. We aim to incubate a creative community, stimulate intellectual dialogues, cultivate relationships with collectors and viewers, and offer our artists ‘latitude’ in their practice.
(text & photo courtesy of LATITUDE Gallery)
