Invited by Montalvo Arts Center, globally recognized Taiwanese artist Lee Mingwei is presenting his works under the title of “The Mending Project” with all audiences interactively. Starting from September 19th to December 8th 2019, the exhibition will be open from 12 pm to 4 pm, Thursday to Sunday with free admission.
Lee Mingwei is famously known as Taiwanese contemporary artist who is currently residing in the United States. Lee is internationally recognized for his critical view of relational aesthetics. He creates artworks based on daily scenario, and he observes interpersonal relationship from strangers’ interactions and audiences’ dialogue by an aim of creating meaningful and tangible connections. “The Mending Project” will place a wall which is ornamented with spools of colorful thread and create an interactive space that is constantly changeable. There will be a volunteer “mender” who will invite visitors to sit and interact while mending visitors’ garments. The spools of thread and the mended garments are connected through thread, just like how people are connected through relationship. Thread gets stronger by the accumulation of mended amount; likewise, relationship also gets more connected as time goes by. Both thread and interpersonal relationship will be least able to be teared apart or isolated.
Lee Mingwei was born in Taiwan, and he received his MFA from Yale Graduate School of Fine Arts in 1997. He has exhibited his artworks at New York Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Brooklyn Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane, etc. Also, he has participated in many enormous Biennials such as Venice Biennials, Lyon Biennial, and Liverpool Biennial. For most of Lee’s works, they tend to be in those “one-on-one” or “open-ended” scenarios, which means visitors are voluntarily to join, communicate, and interact with one another. Time is a crucial point because it is a hub that records every step of the interactive processes. And same rule applies to the artworks as well, they often change when time changes. Lee once says, “To me, art is just like every practice of interaction with stranger. It is also about give and take.”
This project is presented by Montalvo Arts Center with support from Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles, with an aim to encourage people to focus on emotional connections between on another, and to create more connection and understanding of Taiwanese artistic culture among local communities.
Montalvo Arts Center is a non-profit organization which is located in the city of Saratoga. They have been holding art workshops, exhibitions, performances, and artists residency for many years. It is a dominant arts and cultural breeding ground in Northern California. Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles is a non-profit cultural institute affiliated with the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan, and functions as a cultural bridge between Taiwan and the overseas countries, seeking to increase the global visibility of Taiwanese culture, enhance cultural exchange, raise awareness and appreciation of the rich and diverse culture of Taiwan.