Chen Chieh-jen
Empire’s Borders II – Western Enterprises, Inc.
July 9 – September 5, 2010
Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater
631 West 2nd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
www.redcat.org
Empire’s Borders II – Western Enterprises, Inc. takes its cues from the political context of the 1950s Cold War when U.S. interests in Taiwan overlapped with the Chinese civil war. Cooperating with the Taiwanese Nationalist government, the American CIA established what was called Western Enterprises – agents responsible for training an Anti-Communist National Salvation Army (NSA) for a surprise attack on communists in Mainland China. The three-channel film installation begins here and weaves the biography of the artist’s father, a member of NSA, who upon his passing left an autobiography, a list of NSA soldiers killed during the China offensive, an empty photo album and an old army uniform. Through Chen’s characteristically charged re-enactments, the figures in the film encounter the ghosts of history and move through the vacuous spaces of struggle, absence and erasure, which echo present-day realities.
The first iteration of Empire’s Borders, Chen’s critical response to the convoluted systems implemented as a result of Cold War policies, was featured in the Taiwanese Pavilion at the 2009 Venice Biennale. For his exhibition at REDCAT, Chen has since developed the work by incorporating his own family history. The artist, who grew up in Taiwan in the 1980s during the martial law era, says his films engage with history in relation to current political and economic forces. As such, Chen notes, the films constitute actions that “depict memories of marginalized places, present ways of opening up to the other, and thereby subvert both external and internal mechanisms of colonialism.”
The exhibition is made possible with support by the National Cultural and Arts Foundation of Taiwan. The Standard is the official hotel of REDCAT.
REDCAT is located at the corner of W. 2nd and Hope Streets, inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex in downtown Los Angeles (631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012).
The Gallery at REDCAT is open Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 6:00pm or until intermission. It is closed Monday and major holidays. Admission to the Gallery at REDCAT is always free. For information on current exhibitions call 213-237-2800 or visit www.redcat.org.
