Friday night featured the opening reception for the GOT ART? Showcasing Works by Emerging Asian Artists exhibition at the Chinese Culture Center. The CCC is a “major community-based, non-profit organization established in 1965 to foster the understanding and appreciation of Chinese and Chinese American art, history, and culture in the United States.” It is located on the third floor of the Holiday Inn in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The exhibit runs until Saturday, August 24. The center is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10am to 4pm.
Rae has two of her large charcoal drawings on display (see right), and I have three prints on exhibit (shown below). The first two images are also on display in Oakland’s Jack London Square at Water and Washington. That exhibit runs till the end of September, so if you aren’t able to make it to the CCC this week but would still like to see the prints, you’re covered.
Of the eighteen artists who had work on display, eleven were on hand for the reception. Many of the artists didn’t seem to be in the talking mood with each other, preferring instead to chat with their circle of friends and family. I did share an extended conversation with one of them, however. Harry Kao is an amateur photographer who’s a software engineer by day. I also spoke briefly with Atelier Xisc0 Xer0, Melissa Wong, and Mei-She Tseng, three other artists from the exhibition.
I think this was my first exhibition where there was an artists’ reception. Back in high school, I had a number of my pencil and ink illustrations displayed at a local coffee house. I was in France for a three-week exchange program when it opened, so I couldn’t have been at a reception even if there was one. The image of the artist standing around his work and having all these random people come up to talk to him has always stuck in my head. I wish I could say that happened last night, but unfortunately, things didn’t exactly happen quite like that. I am thankful for all of my friends and family who came to see the work. They kept me from being the brooding and sulking artist in the corner!
Today, Eric was telling me this sort of thing only happens to musicians and famous artists. Well, one day, I will be the most pow… wait, that’s someone else’s line, isn’t it?
At any rate, here are some random photos from the reception. My nervousness and jittery attitude must have been getting to me, as I detected a noticeable drop in my photography skills Friday night!
In other news, my cousin, Edwin was in town from Boston (via London, Paris, and Hong Kong). Rae and I met up with Vienna and him in front of the Union Square Macy’s earlier on Friday afternoon.
We descended to the food court in the lower level to check out the press matches for Vienna’s Waking Hour re-release CD booklet. Coupled with our approval of the prints were phrases like, “Ship it! Print it! Press it!” You’ll see the final result in a few months at your favorite record stores.
It was nice to hear what Edwin’s been up to since the last time that I saw him, which I believe was way back during my study abroad years in Paris, France. It must have been quite an adventure to have grown up in Hong Kong, moved to London for university, and moved back to Asia to live and work. It was also fun introducing Edwin to my cousin from the other side of the family. The two sides of the family don’t often meet, but they are important facets to my life.
Following the reception, Edwin, Randy, Steven, Susan, Rae, May and I went out to dinner at the Far East Cafe restaurant in Chinatown. The food was filling and yummy, especially for Randy, who continued to gorge long after everyone’s tanks had been topped off. We ate in one of these enclosed booths, which I must admit looked a little sketchy. “Yes, you’ll be eating behind this red curtain!” With power plugs and phone jacks in the booths, I wonder if business deals ever get hammered out over some hot Chinese meals at Far East!
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