Fast food, slow art
Serving a meaningful menu at RAG
This spring, The Richmond Art Gallery (RAG) is presenting a Canadian premiere of work by American poet Jane Wong and new work from Taiwanese-Canadian creative duo Mizzonk. The exhibition explores the theme of nourishment in this Doordash cultural moment — what do we really need, physically and spiritually?
Wong’s installation is a giant round table, reminiscent of her family’s Chinese-American restaurant of the ‘80s and ‘90s, entitled After Preparing the Altar, The Ghosts Feast Feverishly. Visitors walk around the table looking into bowls that contain fragments of poetry which they must piece together, beneath a chandelier of soup spoons. Wong’s work also touches on a dark period of Chinese history during the Great Leap Forward, which her family lived through.
Mizzonk is the public persona of Maple Ridge artists Wan-Yi Lin and Roger Chen who relocated to Canada after witnessing 9/11 from the rooftop of their Brooklyn studio. The experience marked a turning point in their lives, as they searched for a pastoral alternative to an urban identity. Six Acres is their projected animation of watercolour scenes celebrating their home’s natural cadences.
Nourish
At The Richmond Art Gallery (RAG) from Jan. 22 to April 3, 2022, curated by Nan Capogna.
