Foreigners Nowwhere
September 27, 2024 - October 9th, 2024
13 Grattan St, #402, Brooklyn, NY11206
Artists
Exhibit Artist:
Chengtao Yi
Jiawei Zhao
Xi Song
Zhiliang Zhao
Curator
Xiao Liu
The notion of the “foreigner” in the Western context has been continuously redefined, evolving alongside the emergence of nation-states, colonialism, and the construction of racialized identities. As exempli- fied by the 2024 Venice Biennale’s theme, “Foreigners Everywhere,” the idea of the foreigner in today’s world is being reexamined in light of global migration. However, the exhibition Foreigners Nowhere at A Space diverges from the grand framework of the Biennale by presenting works from four artists—Jiawei Zhao, Zhiliang Zhao, Xi Song, and Chengtao Yi—who are, by nationality, defined as foreigners. Their works delve into these complexities, addressing foreignness not as a conceptual dichotomy of ‘self’ and ‘other’ but as a tactile, lived experience embedded in the tenacity of everyday life, revealing foreignness as an intricate fabric woven through subtle and resilient acts.
Jiawei Zhao’s photo series, The Third Space, was initiated during the COVID-19 lockdown, a period when the pandemic confined people to fixed locations and prompted a re-examination of normality. The imposed division between the virtual and the real, for Zhao, resonates with the conventional understanding of photography as a representation of reality through visual apparatus. Coupled with his intensified sense of alienation, Zhao began to reflect on his relationship with photography—a medium that was invented in the West and continually shaped by Western contextualization. Zhao draws from a wide variety of sources, such as the Chinese edition of The New York Times (in which images of beautiful American houses were presented to the Chinese audience as part of exclusive interviews, not commercial advertisements); outdoor scenes provided by friends and online acquaintances, many of whom he met during the pandemic; and family albums, including his passport and visa photos. These visual materials have been printed, cropped, painted, folded, and layered to create a “third space,” where photographic frames are also treated as a means rather than a final solution, transforming the images from flat surfaces into dynamic, constructive elements. This process dissolves binaries such as indoor vs. outdoor, virtual vs. real, self vs. other, and citizens vs. foreigners. In both literal and metaphorical terms, Zhao constructs a third space for himself and others like him, where foreignness potentially becomes a space of engagement and inhabitation.
While Jiawei Zhao aims to reconcile, Zhiliang Zhao’s recent work, Plaque, captures and sculpts res- onant expressions from everyday encounters, not as alienation but as a playful recontextualization of foreignness that emerges from the fractures of the mundane. In his Plaque (On a Wednesday Morning), he transforms a bold statement from a casual conversation—“On Wednesday morning, I’m a were- wolf”—into a seemingly vulnerable small-scale plaque. The material presentation contrasts with the wild energy of the words, playing with the tension between text and form. This contrast is also evident in Plaque (If I Can’t Please), where the phrase is written on a vertical column-like structure. As one reads from top to bottom, the text blurs, and the color fades, emphasizing the instability of meaning as it unfolds across the continuous surface of the sculpture. By consciously choosing to reframe these mo- ments, Zhao offers a distinct perspective on foreignness—highlighting the absurd contrasts that exist in seemingly trivial moments with the significant presence lurking beneath.
Also inspired by language, Xi Song reflects on her awkward moments learning English vocabularies and its cultural connotations. In her piece Microwave, she humorously revisits her initial encounter with the English word “microwave,” which, to her, resembled not a kitchen appliance but a visual image of tiny hand waves saying goodbye—combining the meanings of “micro” and “wave.” This amusing misinterpretation stuck with her, leading her to create a kinetic sculpture based on her literal imagination of a micro-wave that captures the humor and awkwardness of navigating a foreign language. In High- Five, Song explores another culturally loaded gesture, featuring a retractable hand toy and a video documenting how the toy is used in real life. For Song, the high-five—a gesture meant to express encouragement or camaraderie—felt alien, prompting her to create the retractable hand toy as a strategic adaption to foreign cultural norms. “Foreign moments begin long before one actually arrives in a foreign land. The real question is not whether foreignness exists but how to express it or resolve it through everyday interactions and exchanges.”(Song)
Chengtao Yi’s painting series, Figures, explores the technical question of how we perceive things in relation to our ability to see, asserting that our capability to see is also preconditioned before we consciously understand the act of seeing itself. The series features two eye charts—one from China and one from the U.S.—commonly used for vision tests. Yi imposes a unique set of constraints on himself by removing his glasses and painting these optometric charts from the same distance they are typically viewed during an eye exam. This deliberate approach introduces intentional distortion, reflecting the artist’s unfiltered vision and prompting a deeper reflection on perception, clarity, and the subjective nature of sight. It serves as a reminder of how much our vision is shaped by preconceived notions rather than the raw data our eyes take in. The two sets of institutionalized, standardized systems of so-called scientific tests prescribe our ability to see, and for Yi, this encapsulates the underlying logic of foreignness, where individual differences and the distinctiveness of each bodily sense are leveled and indoctrinated.
Through the lens of these four artists, Foreigners Nowhere seeks to reveal the intricate layers of for- eignness—not through broad abstractions, but as a tangible, lived condition rooted in the materiality of everyday life and sustained through subtle acts of resilience. It speaks to the experience of living in a perpetual state of “nowhere,” where belonging is constantly questioned. What truly sets Foreigners No- where apart from the notion of “foreigners everywhere” is not merely a shift in terms, but the emphasis on the hidden subject: we, the foreigners, existing in a space that is both here and there, and uniquely our own.
Installation View
