Khanh H. Le's 'Making Memories While We Wait' explores memories of living as refugees in Vietnamese internment camps in the '80s
Apr. 18—Artist Khánh H. Lê is showing work in a large-scale, solo exhibition on the second floor of the FAC Art Center in downtown Frederick through July. "Making Memories While We Wait" features colorful paintings, photographic collage and dramatic cut-paper hangings that stretch from floor to ceiling.
Lê will hold an artist talk at the exhibition at 6 p.m. April 20.
Lê, born in Vietnam in 1981, continuously probes his personal and familial histories to carve out a cultural identity for himself. He creates dazzling compositions based on deteriorating photographs and collective memories of his and his relations' experiences as refugees living in Vietnamese internment camps in the 1980s.
Through the collaging of materials, such as acrylic paintings, glitter, prints and sparkling plastic craft jewels, Lê merges narratives — both horrific realities and idyllic fantasies — that are filled with tension as he explores notions of home, country, and safety.
Lê graduated with an MFA from Syracuse University in 2008, and his work has been exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Vox Populi, the Hillyer Art Space and Pyramid Atlantic, among others. The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities awarded Lê an Artist Fellowship for the Visual Arts in 2011, and 2015 through 2020. Lê was awarded second place in the Bethesda Painting Prize in 2018 and was a 2019 semifinalist of the Sondheim Artscape Prize in Baltimore.
The FAC Art Center is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday at 5 E. Second St., Frederick. See frederickartscouncil.org for more information.
