ARMORY SHOW NY 2022: TIDAWHITNEY LEK

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ARMORY NYC

February 16 – FEBRUARY 19, 2023

Sow & Tailor is proud to announce our first ever art fair participation in this year’s The Armory Show in New York. For the Presents section of the fair, we’ll be showing the 􀀁rst solo presentation of new works by Los-Angeles based artist Tidawhitney Lek in New York. The Cambodian-American’s work, while primarily focused on painting, also incorporates sculptural and architectural elements.

Her presentation looks to the fence as a stepping of point: the idea of this porous boundary between the public and private space. It is possible to see through security fences, a ubiquitous architectural element in her community, but they present a sense of both hostility and safety. As a literal object of gatekeeping, the fence intends to both keep in and keep out. For Lek, the works are themselves a form of the fence. Each painting o􀀂ers a glimpse into the interior world and the space it contains; full of its joys and anxieties.

Within her painting, Lek incorporates the dichotomy of both interior and exterior. They are multidimensional compositions of oil, pastel, and nail polish. Populating her images are figures of her family, domestic objects, and oftentimes disembodied hands. The family members depicted are portrayed in Khmer garb, a nod to generational traditions that are carried through immigrant families. For Lek, the generational traditions include trauma that stems from a family that escaped the Khmer Rouge. The hands represent invisible forces that push and compel— the diasporic families both twisting to 􀀁t within a new culture, and surrounding oneself with the familiar and the old world.

Join us at The Javits Center for this year’s Armory Show, booth P25.