PIKO: Pacific Islander Contemporary Art

Long Beach, CA – The Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum (PIEAM) presents “PIKO: Pacific Islander Contemporary Art” exhibit from January 10 to July 26, 2015 in Long Beach, California. This exhibit examines the current state of contemporary art by Pacific Islanders based in the United States and United States Territories.  Featured works are by Noelani Arista (Hawaiian), Micki Davis (Chamorro), Chuck Feesago (Samoan), Sia Figiel (Samoan), Moana Nepia (Maori), Carl Pao (Hawaiian), Dan Taulapapa McMullin (Samoan), and Lorene Taurerewa (Samoan). Dan Taulapapa McMullin serves a dual role and is also the exhibit’s guest curator. Opening reception is on January 10 starts at 4 p.m. with an artists’ panel, open to the public.

 
Representing an important art turning point, “PIKO” refers to the attitude of indigenous aesthetic and renewal of Pacific Islander artistic practice in response to colonial appropriation of indigenous subjectivity. “Evident in their works is a tendency based not just on the art historical recuperation of Pacific Islander subjectivity, but on maintaining an affective relationship between indigenous works and our surrounding environment,” says guest curator Dan Taulapapa McMullin.

 
While the art of contemporary Pacific Islanders based in the United States has been the subject of many exhibitions in Hawaii and the Pacific, it is rarely shown in California.  PIKO will provide the audience with a critical introduction to this significant work.

 
Guest curator, Dan Taulapapa McMullin is a painter and Poet whose practice investigates areas of expression influenced by diverse sources, in forms of text, material, technology, image, narrative, and light. His studio practice is in Hudson, New York. He recently was commissioned by the Bishop Museum of Honolulu was artist-in-residence at the De Young Museum and the University of the South Pacific. He also is the author of Coconut Milk, a book of poetry.

PIEAM incorporates the diverse cultures of the Pacific Islands through a permanent collection, educational programs, rotating exhibits, and living arts.

Noelani Arista, Micki Davis, Chuck Feesago, Sia Figiel, Moana Nepia, Carl Pao, Dan Taulapapa McMullin, and Lorene Taurerewa

10 January – 26 July

The Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum, 695 Alamitos Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90802, USA