In a world where information is power and access to knowledge is a luxury, the concept of information being lost or destroyed is a notion that has been around for centuries. However, with the advent of digital technology, the notion of information being lost or destroyed has taken on a new dimension.
But before the internet’s oceanic memory, a paper shredder could render even the most sensitive documents meaningless. Though in retrospect those cuts seem less final, as the Vietnamese American artist Dinh Q. Lê knew decades ago, slicing information into strips could hardly ever provide the wholesale erasure it promised. Lê, who died last April, played with the abstraction by weaving strips of images from Vietnam, where he was born, with images from America, where he was born after fleeing the Khmer Rouge. “From discrete worlds, he conjured a new chimeric whole”, writes Jason N. Le, in a piece for Portland Monthly about the current Dinh Q. Lê show at Elizabeth Leach Gallery.
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A New Era of Artistic Expression
April marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon, the end of the Vietnam War, and the beginning of the artist’s lifelong project of representing assimilation in art. Like a mirror pond obscured by rain, Lê’s most famous works, called photo weavings, juxtapose pixel-like squares of multiple images, often with conflicting depictions of the same history.
“Combining historical documentation with media-fabricated narratives, Lê calls into question the veracity of memory, positioning it as a moving target depending on who is telling the story”
, says Rory Padeken, a curator at the Denver Art Museum, who previously curated a major Dinh Q. Lê show at the San Jose Museum of Art. Though the work often depicted horrific events, instead of solely memorializing those lost or striving to amend manipulated histories, it affirms the ongoing lives of people who formed their identities across cultures.
A Poetic Visualization of Being Between Places
The pictures are “a poetic visualization of being between places”, says Dinh Q. Lê. As Le has it, the work affirms the ongoing lives of people who formed their identities across cultures.
- Through his art, Lê represents the Vietnamese American experience, highlighting the tensions between the past and the present, between two cultures.
- His photo weavings, which are often depicted as fragmented images, challenge the notion that history is linear and fixed.
- The use of multiple images and narratives, often conflicting, serves to highlight the subjective nature of memory and the complexities of identity.
Things to Do This Week
- READINGS Street Books 15th Anniversary
- 6–8PM THU, APR 10 | UP UP BOOKS, FREE
- FILM Portland Panorama
- APR 10–20 | VARIOUS LOCATIONS, FESTIVAL PASSES ($150+) OR INDIVIDUAL SCREENINGS
- MUSIC Pink Martini
- 8PM MON & TUE, APR 14 & 15 | REVOLUTION HALL, $50+
Conversation at Elizabeth Leach Gallery
| DATE | TIME | LOCATION | EVENT |
| SATURDAY, APR 12 | 11AM, FREE | ELIZABETH LEACH GALLERY | IN CONVERSATION |
Highlights of the Festival
Pink Martini’s 30th Birthday Celebrations
This two-day celebration marks the band’s hometown birthday, with performances by Thomas Lauderdale and China Forbes, along with a number of famous guests.
Don’t miss the anniversary gig, which promises to be a night to remember.
Dinh Q. Lê: A Legacy of Artistic Expression
“From discrete worlds, he conjured a new chimeric whole”
“Combining historical documentation with media-fabricated narratives, Lê calls into question the veracity of memory, positioning it as a moving target depending on who is telling the story”
The artist’s lifelong project of representing assimilation in art, through his famous photo weavings, which juxtapose pixel-like squares of multiple images, often with conflicting depictions of the same history.
Conclusion
While Dinh Q. Lê’s work continues to evolve and push the boundaries of artistic expression, his legacy lives on through his art, which serves as a poignant reminder of the complexities of identity and the power of memory.