SCAF – Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation

In association with the exhibition Dinh Q. Lê: Erasure
a multimedia installation and online archive erasurearchive.net
Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation presents

Dinh Q. Lê in conversation with

Margaret Throsby

Thursday, 7 July 2011
4.45–5.45 pm

Erasure
In 1978, when he was ten years old, Dinh Q. Lê, his family – mother, six siblings, two aunts and a number of cousins – fled their home in Hà Tiên, a town on the Mekong river delta following its invasion by the Khmer Rouge. In 1979, at age eleven, Lê emigrated with his family from Thailand to Los Angeles.

As a refugee himself, Lê was motivated to produce Erasure by the tragic sinking of a refugee boat off Christmas Island in December 2010. The fragility of memory is at the core of Lê’s work.  His practice challenges our understanding of how society archives the evidence of human suffering.  The artist’s work reveals his commitment to the artistic process as a means of excavating history – he uncovers alternate ideas of loss and redemption.

Zoe Butt, Co-Curator, Erasure 2011

Exhibition dates: 
8 July – 10 September 2011

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Speakers

Margaret Throbsy is one of Australia’s most versatile, popular and admired broadcasters. Her highly successful career encompasses both radio and television. Margaret presents Mornings on ABC Classic FM. Accolades for her achievements include: Member of the Order of Australia (for Services to Broadcasting, 1989), Variety Club of Australia’s Radio Award, Two Avion Awards for the ‘Best in the World’ in-flight audio programmes (QANTAS), Golden Gavel Award presented by the Law Society of NSW for Excellence in Legal Reporting, Children’s Week Media Award and Rostrum Speaker of the Year.

Dinh Q. Lê was born in Hà Tiên, Vietnam in 1968, migrating to the US in 1979. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Art Studio at University of California, Santa Barbara (1989) and his Master of Fine Arts in Photography and Related Media at the School of Visual Arts, New York City (1992). In 1996 Lê returned to live and work in Ho Chi Minh City. Lê’s work has been exhibited worldwide. Solo exhibitions include, Destination for the New Millennium, The Art of Dinh Q. Lê, at the Asia Society, New York (2005) and Project 9: Dinh Q. Lê, MOMA, New York (2010-11).  He was also included in the 55th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, City Visions Festival, Mechelen, Belgium (2009); Singapore Biennale (2008); Thermocline of Art, ZKM, Germany (2007); 5th Asia Pacific Triennial, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (2006) and was the recipient of a Prince Claus Award, the Netherlands (2010).  Lê is also the co-founder of Sàn Art – an independent, artist-run exhibition space and reading room in Ho Chi Minh City.