From A Time And Place
Glass Rice, San Francisco, CA | June 4 - 25, 2022
“Glass Rice is proud to present From A Time and Place, Adrian Kay Wong’s sophomore solo exhibition with the gallery and co-curated with Sydney Pfaff of Legion Projects. In this continued exploration of everyday narratives, Wong acutely focuses on the significance objects hold in relation to how they shape our sense of memory, nostalgia and what we choose to apply meaning to. In placing these items in the spotlight, he highlights their ability to inform our experiences and allow us to recognize the profundity of quotidian moments that can both feel so personal, yet universal as well.
By taking a slight shift away from the dynamics of form and geometry, Wong has discovered a new-found freedom in focusing on the more nuanced and detailed concepts of object-focused subject matter. The paintings in From A Time and Place reveal sentimental and poignant scenes found in the everyday - the moments that strike us upon reflection. In the artist’s own words “With a plate of cut apples, I’m immediately brought back to my childhood room, working into the night on homework, as my mother quietly brings this snack, only to leave without a word. Banal, momentary, unremarkable – and yet, so deeply representative of affection, tenderness, and a culture’s expression of love. A folded paper plane resting at the edge of a table: memories of simple play, earnest focus on folding paper, forgotten joys of watching it fly.”.
In portraying what appear as insignificant moments in vivid hues, Wong gives luminance to snapshots of scenes that influenced his life and the people who colored it - an entire narrative unraveling from a few simple items. In this body of work, we are reminded of the power objects hold and the immense influence they have over the human experience.”