East of Eden
September 8 – October 20, 2007
Reception for the Artist: Saturday, September 8, 7 – 10 pm
Los Angeles, CA—
Sam Lee Gallery is pleased to premiere Pipo Nguyen-duy’s acclaimed East of Eden series in a solo exhibition from September 8 to October 20. The gallery will host a reception for the artist on Saturday, September 8, 7 – 10 p.m.
Pipo Nguyen-duy’s East of Eden, begun in summer 2002,is an epic photographic project that transverses vast terrain and explores human ecology from a post September 11th perspective. This series comprises staged, large-scale color photographs that deal with the displacement of humanity within a post-apocalyptic North American landscape. September 11, 2001 was a turning point for Nguyen-duy, as the artist faced a familiar feeling of uncertainty, fear, and insecurity that he had already experienced throughout his childhood in war-torn Vietnam. East of Eden manifests the artist’s urgency to offer, as a survivor of violent conflict, his perspective on the contemporary landscape of anxiety.
The genre of staged photography is certainly not new and has been practiced by many artists—past and present. Nguyen-duy, however, stands apart in this category, as he delivers a unique vision in East of Eden by drawing on his complex emotions about—and his experience of—war. This series is also partly inspired by the Hudson River School—a nineteenth-century movement that championed the majestic awe of the North American landscape. The strategy of utilizing the landscape as a metaphor for both nationalism and optimism as evidenced by the Hudson River School paintings provides the background for the artist’s visual thesis. Thus, East of Eden reframes and questions the historical depiction of the North American landscape as a “Garden of Eden.” The artist’s vision is not limited to the portrayal of death and despair but rather incorporates as well the imagery of hope and regeneration that faces the inhabitants of the contemporary political and psychic landscape.
Nguyen-duy, born in Hue, Vietnam in 1962, received a master’s degree of fine arts in photography from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque in 1998. The artist lives in Ashland, Oregon, and teaches at Oberlin College, in Oberlin, Ohio, where he is associate professor of photography. His work has been shown internationally, with recent exhibitions at the Light Work Gallery in New York, the Faaborg Museum in Denmark, and the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego.
Digital images are available for press purposes. Please email (info@samleegallery.com) for reproduction requests.
Sam Lee Gallery is located at 990 N. Hill Street #190, Los Angeles, CA 90012, Phone 323-227-0275, Facsimile 323-227-0256. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 12 to 6 pm. For detailed information, please visit the gallery’s website, www.samleegallery.com.