Garrick Imatani: Monologue at ANTI-AESTHETIC
Garrick Imatani’s project Monologue examines the forces that inform and shape perceptions of non-dominant cultural identities. Through an examination of his own Japanese cultural heritage, Imatani creates objects and iconographies that use direct observation or online engagement to setup an alternative punchline. With his project he questions the aesthetics of assimilation and authenticity, as well as the contemporary and conceptual which continue to situate works within co-opted art historical references. The objects and prints comprising this installation question both the dominant canon and inclusionary and equity constructs – first enforced by colonialist aesthetics and further perpetuated within institutional frameworks and scholarship. In creating interactive objects layered with humorous imagery, Imatani seeks to diffuse the notion of an intangible “essence” of a culture—inviting instead a de-centralized, intricate and multifaceted reading of cultural properties beyond one’s own.
Exhibition on view by appointment only April 3 – May 1, 2021
ANTI-AESTHETIC Open hours Saturday and Sunday, 12-4pm.
Schedule viewing appointments here
Related public program:
Making After Melancholia: A discussionbetween Garrick Imatani, Lynn Yarne and Lu Yim
Sunday, April 18th at noon
Free, via Zoom with registration