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  • "ALOHA MY NAME IS..." Maoli Arts Month Show April 29th, 2014 - May 31st 2014


ART EXHIBITION: "ALOHA MY NAME IS…" Maoli Arts Month Show

WHERE: The ARTS at Mark's Garage, 1159 Nuuanu Ave. Honolulu, HI 96817

DATES: April 29th, 2014 -- May 31st 2014

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, May 2nd, 6-8pm

HOURS: Tuesday -- Saturday 10 -- 5PM

ADMISSION: FREE

PA'I Foundation in collaboration with The ARTS at Mark's Garage is pleased to present, as part of Maoli Arts Month (MAMo), "ALOHA MY NAME IS…" an exhibition of contemporary urban Hawaiian Art. Curated by Drew Broderick of SPF Projects, the exhibition features new and recent works by Kahiau Beamer, Cory Taum, Keoni Paakaula, Kazu Kauinana, and Uncle Imai Kalahele. A local play on the widely used "Hello my name is" stickers, "ALOHA MY NAME IS…" is a statement of existence and an introduction to contemporary urban Kanaka Maoli art and art making in the Islands. "We are here, we are artists, we are active, and we are Hawaiian."

Highlighting the work of 3 young emerging artists who have shared a studio together in Kakaako for the past year, "ALOHA MY NAME IS…" offers an "insider" perspective to art making through an "outsider" approach. Painting on drainage ditches, water tanks, freeway pillars, and abandoned military facilities up mauka in the bush, Kahiau Beamer, Cory Taum, and Keoni Paakaula do not set out on their "missions" intending to reclaim, however, reclamation is inevitably one outcome of their work. That said, the irony of urbanization is not lost on them either, realizing that their work would not and could not exist in its current state without these imposed structures and symbols, they choose to leave their marks anyway, as testament to their struggle, and to the larger process of overturning contested histories.

"ALOHA MY NAME IS…" departs from the normal working conditions and environments of Beamer, Taum, and Paakaula, i.e. valleys and alleys, and instead offers a unique glimpse into their budding gallery practice. To supplement and contextualize the work of the younger artists the exhibition also features the work of two established and widely recognized Hawaiian artists from previous generations, Kazu Kauinana and Uncle Imai Kalahele, identified by Beamer, Taum, and Paakaula as artists and Hawaiians that they look to for inspiration and guidance in their own work. Through acknowledging and honoring the lineage that their work is a part of and using the work of Kauinana and Kalahele as points of departure, Beamer, Taum, and Paakaula comment on the changing times and the evolution of Hawaiian art and art making through a healthy and engaged intergenerational dialogue.

"Holomua!"

High-resolution images available upon request.

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