Tracing Cultures: Albert Chong, Lewis Desoto, I.T.O., Young Kim, Komar Melamid, Dinh Q. Lee, Gavin Lee, Maria Martinez-Canas, Ruben Ortiz Torres, Carrie Mae Weems (Points of Entry)

Photographic images by artists of diverse cultural backgrounds further the understanding of contemporary immigration and the changing face of America in Tracing Cultures. PThemes central to the emerging definitions of multiculturalism are explored by recent photography and photo-related installation art that deals with issues of origin, acculturation, adjustment, displacement, and loss within the context of contemporary American life. Participating artists acknowledge that the melting pot ideal no longer suffices to describe their personal experience of cultural dislocation. Their art directly addresses the history and politics of American immigration in a country now obsessed with and, often fearful of, the notion of multiculturalism. PArtists represented include Albert Chong, Lewis deSoto, Shigeki Ito, Young Kim, Komar and Melamid, Dinh Q. Le, Gavin Lee, María Martnez-Cañas, Ruben Ortíz-Torres, Carrie Mae Weems, and Kim Yasuda.