Bricolage
Interested in supporting Bricolage? Reach out at info@philebusarts.com.
The Exhibition
A Dialogue in Two Traditions
Bricolage aims at building a dialogue between works by contemporary artist Maisie Luo and traditional Miao embroideries from Li Zeng's collection.
Luo explores symbols from Chinese folk arts in her paintings and multi-media works: papercutting and Miao embroidery have been her major inspirations.
Zeng has been collecting and researching Miao embroidery for nearly half a century.
Her collection consists of not only traditional Miao embroideries by artisans based in Guizhou Province, China, but also avant-garde designs that explore the fusion of tradition and contemporary fashion.
What Is “Bricolage”?
“Bricolage” literally means a construction or creation from a diverse range of available things.
For Michel de Certeau, bricolage is a metaphor for how ordinary people creatively repurpose the materials of dominant culture with their bottom-up tactics.
Bricolage could be a fusion-food dish, an astrayed city walk, or a creolized language.
In This Exhibition
In this exhibition, the bricolage is in Luo's adaptation of traditional symbolisms to comment and explore contemporary relationships between humans, animals, and the environment.
The Miao people's use of visual imagery as a way of storytelling, deviated from language, via their intricate embroidery.
It is also a bricolage of the two, challenging the consecrated boundaries between art and craft, avant-garde and tradition.
Who This Is For
Bricolage welcomes all audiences interested in art and traditional craft, as well as the local community in Chinatown that hope to learn more about the diversity of traditional Chinese culture, its conservation, and its contemporary potential.
Via this exhibition, we hope to raise awareness of Miao embroidery among not only American Chinese but also the American public in general.
We will be selling Miao embroidery jewelry crafts and embroidery pieces during the exhibition.
The profits will be used to organize more Miao embroidery-related art, education, and cultural activities in the U.S. and to support Zeng's museum as well as Maisie Luo's art-making.
Exhibition Space
Intended Exhibition Space: SLEEPCENTER, Chinatown (9 Monroe St, Basement, New York, NY 10002 — sleepcenterny.org).
A transnational independent not-for-profit agency for art and ideas that serves local communities and international audiences.
Located in the vibrant neighborhood of Chinatown.
