UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The HUB-Robeson Galleries presents DREAMS, an exhibition of film-based performance, ceramic sculpture, and installation by New York City-based artist duo AYDO (A young Yu & Nicholas Oh). DREAMS will be on view in HUB Gallery from Nov. 11 through March 5. The artists will give a talk from 3 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 14 in the Palmer Lipton Auditorium as part of the School of Visual Arts John M. Anderson Endowed Lecture Series. The talk will be followed by a reception celebrating their work from 5 to 7 p.m. in the HUB Gallery, HUB-Robeson Center. Both events are open to anyone.
DREAMS explores ancestral and personal dreams through sculptural and video installations. Ancestral dreams refer to the experiences of the artists' ancestors, which they recall and meditate on through spiritual ritual-based practices that center on themes of generational trauma, family, and diaspora.
Through performance-based film and site-specific installation, AYDO re-imagine Korean folklore and precolonial spiritual practices to reflect personal and Asian American perspectives. They are not faithful to historical canon and transgress older traditions, regenerating them within diasporic contexts through methods of disruption and transformation. Performances are filmed in spaces ranging from ritual spaces and temples to sites of colonization and ongoing political tension, from disfigured buildings and unmarked graves to immersive environments constructed in the studio. They activate these spaces by distilling narratives and visual cues from our heritage and, through processes of reimagination, create new stories. New stories explore themes of race, Western imperialism, gender, sexuality, and migration.
Nicholas Oh received his Master of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design. He was awarded artist-in-residence at Pioneer Works, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Sculpture Space, and Shigaraki Cultural Park. He has also previously taught at Rhode Island School of Design, Bennington College, Sacramento State University, and Oxfordshire Arts.
A young Yu received her Master of Fine Arts in visual arts from Columbia University. She was awarded the Bronx Museum of the Arts: Artist in the Marketplace fellowship; Gold Prize by the AHL-T&W Foundation, Individual Artist Fellowship by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and was nominated for the Rema Hort Mann Foundation’s Emerging Artist Grant.
For more information on this and other exhibitions, contact HUB-Robeson Galleries at (814) 865-2563, or visit studentaffairs.psu.edu/hub/art-galleries. Class, student organization and office visits to the gallery are welcomed. Email Galleries@psu.edu with inquiries. Keep up to date with HUB-Robeson Galleries by signing up for the listserv or following on Instagram @hubrobesongalleries.