Audrey Chan

“Theirs is an intersectional world where feminist foremothers loom large and art videos and chicken fat render at the same speed.” –Avigail Moss

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Chan & Mann’s New Fantasy (The Video) (2013) draws upon iconographic tropes of traditional figurative and still life painting to humorously deconstruct discourse in cultural identity. The absurdist video opens upon a painted scene depicting a not-so-ordinary day in the studio with Chan & Mann, whose faces appear as cut-outs in a painting. They converse with a cast of painted characters, such as Dorah the Menorah, Michelle Obama, fortune cookies, and a feminist megaphone. The characters are voiced by established and emerging members of the Los Angeles contemporary art community. Together, they wrestle with issues of feminist and ethnic identity. Live action scenes continue the narrative into everyday and imaginary spaces, including Hollywood’s famed Grauman’s Chinese Theater. The video climaxes in a riveting third-wave feminist slam poetry performance by rising star Frank Sánchez.

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Exhibitions:

3 Solo Projects: Audrey Chan, Elana Mann, Chan & Mann, Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, California, June 22-August 30, 2013. Curated by Meg Linton. exhibition brochure (pdf)
Laugh-in: Art, Comedy, Performance, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, La Jolla, California, January 23-April 19, 2015. Curated by Jill Dawsey. exhibition brochure (pdf)