Performance Studies (after The Wits, by John Chantry)
I Hotel: The Illustrations of Leland Wong
“Performance Studies” is a digitally-printed tapestry inspired by John Chantry’s 1662 engraving “The Wits” and a study of that year’s historical events including General Koxinga’s seizure of Taiwan from occupying Dutch forces. “Performance Studies” reimagines Chantry’s visual catalog of English theater characters as members of a Chinese Lion Dance Troupe and more. Alice’s avatar, The Yellow Lion, confronts Falstaff-turned-Laughing Buddha. Mistress Quickly is The Green Lion. Also featured: artists George Grosz as Dada Death and Bruce Nauman as a fiddler, a haniwa pantomime horse, and an emoji clown. Murals behind the chandeliers depict Commodore Perry’s “black ships,” referencing Japanese influence on contemporary Taiwanese identity and pop culture.
I Hotel is a suite of Chinese ink illustrations by San Francisco Chinatown born and raised artist Leland Wong. The illustrations were commissioned for celebrated author Karen TeiYamashita's groundbreaking book, I Hotel(2010, Coffee House Press, MN.) In 2019, Wong’s original artworks were exhibited for the first time: at the Chinese Culture Center, sited just steps away from the titular I Hotel, and then by invitation of the San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries at its satellite exhibition space, Cafe Valor. The exhibitions were organized by independent curator Alice Wu.
On Growing Up in a Chinatown Store is styled as a hybrid of gallery and retail, created especially for the CCC Design Store at the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco. Guest curator Alice Wu envisioned the museum gift shop as a storytelling platform. Alice invited contributors from San Francisco, New York City, and Los Angeles to bring their retail concepts to San Francisco Chinatown through shoppable installations and to share personal experiences of what it’s like to run a storefront.
Alice Wu
Performance Studies (after The Wits, by John Chantry), Digital print on silk and cotton, 32” wide x 40” high, 2019-2022
I Hotel: The Illustrations of Leland Wong Curated by Alice Wu, For the: Chinese Culture Center San Francisco, CA. April-June, 2019 and San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries at Cafe Valor, July-September 2019
On Growing Up in a Chinatown Store, curated by Alice Wu April 27-October 27, 2019 CCC Design Store / Chinese Culture Center, San Francisco,
Alice Wu
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www.alicewu.us
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alice@alicewu.us
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My work investigates the everyday presentation of the self. Growing up in the U.S. and Taiwan, both and neither are home, so I observe local visual cues that signify belonging or foreign-ness, and am curious how to navigate social roles and community relationships. Fascinated by how fashion communicates personal values and ideals, I’ve made clothing and designed costumes. I also create sculptures, paintings, and performances. Fabric, wood, paper, and wire are cut, combined, stitched, stuffed, slathered with paint. The results can be touched, held, worn, rearranged. My work proposes a universe where resources are distributed equitably and mindfully used, and we can thrive and be our authentic selves.
Alice Wu is an artist, designer, and arts worker based in Oakland, California. She has exhibited at Exit Art, Bronx Museum, The Painting Center, and SOMArts, among others, and has curated for Legion Projects, Chinese Culture Center, and the San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries. Alice co-founded Feral Childe, a collaborative wearable art project known for its irreverent sensibility, textile prints, recycled and organic fabrics, and commitment to ethical, domestic manufacturing. This mindful approach to materials and labor influences her current studio practice. Alice earned a BA in English Literature from Wellesley College and an MFA in Sculpture from Yale.