Jayne Cole Research Statement

I am a contemporary art historian living in Eugene, Oregon. I specialize in global contemporary art with a focus on China in a transnational context. My research utilizes an interdisciplinary perspective and seek ways to infuse research from outside the field into my art historical analyses. I rely on ideas and methodologies from anthropology, sociology, political science, international studies, and ethnic studies to aid in developing art historical questions.

My recent work expands on urban-oriented contemporary Chinese art research by investigating the transnational praxis of Chinese-born and American-born Chinese artists in New York City, a major capital of the art world since the turn of the 20th century. I have narrowed my research to 1970-1985, which I argue is a pivotal period of Chinese-diasporic art activity when considering the broader sociopolitical contexts in both China and New York City. I aim to expand on what is a primarily nationalistic discourse of contemporary Chinese art history by considering diasporic activities of Chinese artists in centers outside of China.

I am also drawn to diasporic artists like Tseng Kwong Chi, who play with ideas of satire and self-portraiture to express their cultural identity. I have found that humor allows for self-reflective dialogue to exist where it would not otherwise. This allows artists a space for cultural and political critique, especially within the diaspora communities.

My interest in contemporary Chinese art stem undergraduate interests in Orientalism and cross-cultural aesthetics in Europe. I was first exposed to the field of contemporary Chinese art when taking a course “non-Western” elective on Chinese painting for my master’s degree. What was initially intended as one class became my focal area of study. With China’s immense growth in the 21st century and the increased desire for Chinese art in the global art market, I found it impossible to study contemporary art without acknowledging China’s role within the field.  

One of the primary goals through my research is to expose the contradictions and problems within the so-called “global” art history. Often, global art history is created by inserting Other art histories into a primarily-Eurocentric canon, something I argue only reinforces established pedagogies. In light of this discourse, my work aims to not conflate art histories, but to reveal specific references to create a new narrative that marries the local with the global. Additionally, I argue that it is essential to investigate the intent and reception of global artworks to a suggest socioeconomic reading in tandem with art historical implications relevant to contemporary, global audience. Art history does not exist in a vacuum; therefore, it is important for me, a white woman born in Minnesota of Scandinavian descent, to consider and redefine contemporary Chinese and Chinese diasporic art alongside scholars from China and beyond.

Mao’s Meme Company affirmed my own art historical stance while simultaneously offering a platform to participate in the artistic process. As someone who believes in acknowledging their own positionality within their scholarship, this added creative component made me rethink my own research methodologies for the better.

Kevin Yatsu Artist Statement

1.
I am a fourth generation japanese-american, but I never felt that I could identify with the term “minority” until my third year of college

           >> something about assimilation
           >> something about assumed naturalization



2.
Tokenism is a strange concept. There is a synchronicity between the oppressor, the oppressive systems and the other – an agreement that yes, the other is in fact, in a disenfranchised state.

The more I think about it, the more tokenism feels like the final nail in the coffin. It is an ideological trap that pins the other at the bottom of white systems of value.



3.
There is a privilege in seeing. There is a greater privilege in not seeing. I like naiveté. I want to be naive. What is stopping me from claiming an “incorrect” point of seeing as a truth?

           >> I am natural. I am dominant.
           >> This is yellow America and these are my systems.



4.
“Art” as unbuilding/appropriation/consumption/defamiliarization/theater/community

           >> Internet as extension of real self into virtual space
           >> virtual space as malleable space


 
5.
I am currently working on an internet-based musical where I embody a version of Ryan Gosling. I am appropriating from the mainstream with the intent for eventual reintroduction

References include vaporwave, internet forums, fake news, tyler the creator, classic japanese cinema, social media, fashion design, instagram photography

Given my interest in the performativity of consumerist culture and internet modes of art circulation, I would be willing to participate in the proposed exhibition.