Thank you NJ Arts! September 02, 2022 / irene shum “Land of the Free manages to be beautiful and confrontational in equal measure — a hard thing to pull off.” https://www.njarts.net/one-month-left-for-brilliant-land-of-the-free-exhibition-at-mana-contemporary-in-jersey-city 1 Likes
Sign up! Meet the artists! Join the conversation! August 16, 2022 / irene shum https://brooklynrail.org/events/2022/08/25/land-of-the-free 1 Likes
As seen in Artsy June 29, 2022 / irene shum “Though each of the artists demonstrates a unique perspective on migration, this sense of longing—of wanting to move through a place or to retrieve a portion of one’s past—remains a consistent theme throughout the exhibition. Minter’s work asks us to peer into the past and consider how the country was founded by forced migration. Crosthwaite and Valdez address a more contemporary context, telling stories about migrations throughout Central America and across the U.S.–Mexico border. “Referencing the past, present, and future, the dynamic exhibitions suggest the movement of migration itself. They expose repressed histories and encourage more nuanced understandings of American identity. “ 1 Likes
First Review of Land of the Free.... May 16, 2022 / irene shum "I’ve just come back from the sneak preview of “Land of the Free,” the promised spring exhibition at MANA, and I’m pleased to say that the answer is a resounding yes. New creative director Kele McComsey and guest curator Irene Mei Zhi Shum have put together a shattering show that lives up to the highest expectations of what MANA Contemporary can be, and makes effective and immersive use of the building’s first floor galleries. While they still might be reluctant to call themselves one, MANA has never felt more like a museum than it does right now. I’ve seen every major gallery show mounted in North Jersey this year, and many of them have been quite good. “Land of the Free” is better. There’s no need to be shy about it: MANA has become the best and most interesting visual arts institution in the Garden State." (Tris McCall, Jersey City Times, 5/13/2022) 1 Likes
I am excited to share my upcoming exhibition project, Land of the Free at Mana Contemporary, Jersey City April 19, 2022 / irene shum Click here for Press Release 1 Likes
