Lotus Laurie Kang: In Cascades

Lotus Laurie Kang’s artworks evolve with time. Working across sculpture, photography, installation and drawing, the artist uses her acute sensitivity to process and site to reflect on bodies, identities, memories, and histories. For Kang’s first institutional solo exhibition in Europe, In Cascades reorganises the spaces and fissures of Chisenhale Gallery, asking what is passed down and what is lost as we move through the world?

At the centre of the exhibition, ten industrial steel joists are suspended from the gallery’s ceiling. Echoing the lotus root – a recurring motif in Kang’s practice – the joists contain cavities that enhance their strength; a generative absence through which Kang’s commission materialises. Swathes of exposed photographic film tumble from each joist. Vulnerable to their surroundings, their porous skins continue to absorb light and humidity; bodies in states of perpetual becoming.

Sculptures, using tatami mats as their foundation, lie on the floor of the gallery. A portable, domestic technology, they imply cyclical movement and adaptability; a vessel upon which to rest a body on the move. Elsewhere, sand-cast aluminium sculptures of lotus roots, anchovies, and kelp knots sprout discreetly. Seven rat pups, cast in coloured glass, recline and tangle at the edges of the gallery. They are in-betweeners that live across and within the hollows of infrastructures; repellent pests, accepted kin, and human proxies in scientific contexts.

Through close attention to material, site, and process, Kang’s commission slips between what is seen and what is felt, what is abundant and what is lost, continually imprinting upon us the recurring question: what sticks and what falls away?

As an extension of Kang’s commission, her first publication will launch in July 2023, including new photography; a conversation between Kang and poet CAConrad; an essay by writer Estelle Hoy; as well as original texts by the exhibition’s curator Amy Jones and curator Victoria Sung.

In Cascades is commissioned by Chisenhale Gallery, London, and the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, where the exhibition will be presented from 22 September 2023–7 January 2024.

Events

Conversation
Wednesday, June 14, 7pm
Lotus Laurie Kang and writer and curator Sofie Krogh Christensen discuss Kang’s new commission.

Crit
Monday, June 19, 7pm
Lotus Laurie Kang joins Peer Sessions (artists Kate Pickering and Charlotte Warne Thomas), inviting you to share work-in-progress.

Tour
Saturday, July 8, 2pm
A walkthrough of In Cascades with curator Amy Jones.

Performance
Thursday, July 13, 6pm
Artist Sam Williams stages a 3-hour live choreographic installation in Kang’s commission. Performed by dancers Temitope Ajose, Karen Callaghan and Iro Costello.

Workshop
Saturday, July 22, 11:30am
Artist Marie Smith leads a workshop exploring cameraless photographic techniques and plant-based developing processes.

Book Launch
Thursday, July 27, 7pm
The launch of Kang’s new publication Lotus Laurie Kang: In Cascades, with a live reading from CAConrad.

All events are free to attend and open to all, but booking is essential. Please visit chisenhale.eventbrite.co.uk.

We are committed to ensuring our events are accessible for all. Please contact mail@chisenhale.org.uk to discuss any access needs. We will endeavour to meet all requests where possible. Please be advised that requests should be made two weeks in advance of the event.

Biography
Lotus Laurie Kang’s selected exhibitions include: Molt (New York-Lethbridge-Los Angeles-Toronto-Chicago- ), Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago (2023); Mother Always Has a Mother, Mercer Union SPACE, Toronto (2023); Memory Work, Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-on-Hudson (2023); Triennial: Soft Water Hard Stone, New Museum, New York (2021); Total Disbelief, SculptureCenter, New York (2019); Beolle, Oakville Galleries, Oakville (2019) and Formula 1: A Loud, Low Hum, Cue Art Foundation, New York (2019). In 2022 Kang was the inaugural resident of Horizon Art Foundation, Los Angeles and in residence at Triangle Arts Association, New York.  

In Cascades is commissioned by Chisenhale Gallery, London, and the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver.

In Cascades’s architecture is developed in collaboration with David Andrew Tasman.

Lotus Laurie Kang’s commission is produced with support from the Chisenhale Gallery Commissions Fund.

Lead Supporters: Canada Council for the Arts and The Foundation Foundation.

Headline Supporter: Henry Moore Foundation.

The associated book is produced by Chisenhale Gallery, London, and the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver. Published by Hurtwood Press. Publication Lead Supporter: Asymmetry Art Foundation.

Chisenhale Gallery’s Public Programme 2023 is supported by the Talks & Events Supporters Circle.

The Chisenhale Gallery Curatorial Fellowship 2023-24 is supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

The 2023-24 Asymmetry Curatorial Research Fellow is hosted by Chisenhale Gallery.