Memories, 2017, Jerry Takigawa, 18"X24" by permission of the photographer.

"Becoming (in)Visible: Countering Asian Hate”, can be seen through July 9th at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts. Organized by the Carl Cherry Center and Celadon Arts, the exhibition includes the work of Lucien Kubo, Joe Aki Ouye, Karen Nagano, Lisa Solomon, Monica Tie, Jerry Takigawa and Belle Yang. This exhibit in sponsored, in part, by the Monterey Bay Zen Center, the Arts Council for Monterey County, the Community Foundation and through donations by Mark Orrisch and Jana Clark.

With the significant, troubling increase in anti-Asian hate crime incidents, the exhibition supports the individuals and communities affected through avenues for education, unity, and action. On the surface, these incidents might appear to stem from the recent demagoguery and ignorance around the COVID-19 pandemic, but anti-Asian sentiment, scapegoating and violence are deeply rooted in American history and culture.

Becoming (in)Visible, the current Cherry Center exhibition, shows us the Brave New World of what bias, hate and xenophobia look like in a world right in front of us. Hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have increased nearly 170% in the first quarter of 2021, compared to the same time period in 2020, with more than 3,500 hate incidents reported over the past year.

The paintings and photographs in this exhibit explore these deeply troubling statistics through an array of themes, mediums and settings—with the shrouded notion of Asian Americans as perpetual foreigners a common denominator. The characterization of Asians in terms of otherness has often been stamped by exclusion, or, as Ralph Ellison writes, to only see ‘themselves or figments of their imagination.”

The Carl Cherry Foundation Gallery is Open
Wednesday -- Friday, 11:00 AM -- 4:00 PM; Saturdays: 12 Noon -- 4 PM