BLING BLASIAN BLING

iona rozeal brown and Stella Lai

curated by Darryl Smith/Laurie lazer

 see
SF Weekly
PHOTOS

"Bling BlAsian Bling" features work that incorporates

traditional African American and Asian elements, forms

and techniques to comment upon and explore

socio-cultural and socio-political contemporary

issues.

 Thursday, April 8, 6-8pm

iona rozeal brown

Brown's paintings portray anonymous courtesans,

geisha, and Japanese gangura in blackface. Brown’s

work addresses the global influence of hip-hop,

commercialism, appropriation and African-American

culture as fetish.

Her “w.o.i.m.s.,” (worms) are an acronym for “Weapons

of Mass Spending.” The woims are armed only with a

mouthful of rotting teeth, an occasional gold cap, as

they greedily feast on all manner of material culture,

particularly the trendy accessories of hip-hop. 

For brown, the unbridled impulse to devour everything

from "bling bling" to Burberry not only represents

thewholesale appropriation of hip-hop culture by the

Ganguro, but also the voracious nature of consumer

culture in general.

Brown was born in Washington, D.C., where she is based

today. She earned an MFA from Yale University and has

since exhibited at UCLA's Hammer Museum; Spelman

College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta; and New Image

Art, Los Angeles.

Stella Lai

Lai works with three “girl” characters wearing animal

masks – a rabbit, a bear and a cat. The characters

were inspired by The Monkey King story, where human

characters adopt animal traits. Lai’s characters

retrace childhood memories and explore

issues of sexuality, isolation and vengeance.

Lai’s work is informed and influenced by graphic

design and typography. Referencing her native Hong

Kong’s “chaotic urban landscape,” Lai makes

comparisons to several urban centers in the U.S. –

SF’s Chinatown and LA’s Chinatown.

Lai also incorporates traditional Chinese painting and

floral elements in her work.

Lai is represented by The Lizbeth Oliveria Gallery in

San Francisco and has shown previously at the Luggage

Store, New Langton Arts and the Institute of

Contemporary Arts in San Jose.

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