This past spring, the Chinese American Museum of Chicago (CAMOC) launched the Spotlight Series, a new initiative to showcase recent and past work by emerging and mid-career artists of Chinese descent locally. Curated by Larry Lee (Molar Productions), the project aims to introduce, promote and celebrate the divergent artistic visions and experiences of being Chinese in America looking at and reflecting upon our relationship to contemporary visual culture to a wider audience within our community and Chicago.
The inaugural exhibition of the series, Laura Lynn Hsieh: Mahjong and Dumplings, featured ceramics and video by the artist Laura Lynn Hsieh. This exhibitition ran from March 19 through April 29.
The second exhibition, Spotlight Series: Nicole Leung, featured a site-specific piece titled Untitled (Nicole Leung is too American to be Chinese and too Chinese to be American) by the artist Nicole Leung. This exhibition ran from May 21 through July 2.
The third exhibition, Priscilla Kar Yee Lo: Aiming to Please, featured the work of glass artist Priscilla Kar Yee Lo. The exhibition will ran from July 16 through August 28.
The fourth exhibition, Yuge Zhou: Moon Drawings, featured artist Yuge Zhou’s ongoing video series Moon Drawings. The exhibition will run from September 3 through October 23. Collateral programs of the exhibition include a poetry session in collaboration with the Chicago Poetry Center on September 10 and a sound performance by local sound artists Kikù Hibino and Chien-An Yuan on October 15.
The fifth exhibition, Guanyu Xu: to be seen, features the work of artist Guanyu Xu. The exhibition will run from November 5 through December 17.