OPENING: 

25 March 2022 – From 6 to 8 pm. 

Until 21 May 2022.

WHERE: 

Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space – New York (USA).

Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space is pleased to present Lounge of A Prophet, a solo show with recent works by former LES Studio Program resident Mo Kong, on view at 88 Essex Street from March 25 through May 21, 2022.

Mo Kong’s Lounge of A Prophet at Cuchifritos Gallery will serve as a sequel to Personal Ark®–the artist’s Queens Museum debut. The series of furniture/sculptures reference the overlapping data points of two line graphs–International Trade Rates and Natural Disaster Rates from 2009 to 2020–with each section providing a solution for shelter during ecological collapse and economic isolation. The work is reimagined and transformed into the home of a prophet; home decorations serve as makeshift fortune-telling equipment piled on top of a butt-warming bench, food preservation units, and bookshelves to create a space of refuge and respite.

The odor of the lounge will replicate a “Chinese Smell,” as described in Otis Gibson’s 1877 book Chinese in America, created only with ingredients bio-pirated from Asia by multinational corporations. Since the 18th century, olfaction has been a racializing tool against Asian Americans and has been used to limit the expansion of Chinatowns in major cities throughout the country. Inspired by the plastic-wrapped furniture of Asian moms everywhere, Lounge of A Prophet will be encased in shrinkwrap, transforming its objects and furniture into containers for the scent ingredients.

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Mo Kong is a multidisciplinary artist and researcher. They are currently residing in Queens, NY. They have been the subject of solo exhibitions at Queens Museum (New York), CUE Art Foundation(New York), Artericambi Gallery (Verona), Gertrude Gallery (Stockbridgeand), Chashama (New York). Their work has been included in RISD Museum, SFMOMA, Minnesota Street Project, Mana Contemporary, Noguchi Museum, Spring Break, ARTISSIMA, Make Room Gallery, and Rubber Factory Gallery. They also received fellowship/residency from Macdowell Colony, Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Triangle art association, Drawing Center, Mass Moca Studio, Vermont Studio Center, Lighthouse Works, and Artists Alliance LES Studio Program. Their work is mentioned in Hyperallergic, Artforum, Art in America, Cultured magazine, Artnews, CoBo Social, Wall street International, SFMoMA Public Knowledge, etc.

Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space is located inside Essex Market, which is fully accessible by ADA standards. The gallery can be accessed from any ground floor entrance. Cuchifritos Gallery welcomes assistance dogs, and has wheelchair accessible toilet facilities on the lower level and 2nd floor, which can be accessed by the east-side elevator. For access inquiries please contact Artists Alliance at info@artistsallianceinc.org or (212) 420-9202.

Artists Alliance Inc. is a 501c3 not for profit organization located on the Lower East Side of New York City within the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center. Cuchifritos Gallery is supported in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Exhibition programming is made possible by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. We thank the New York City Economic Development Corporation and individual supporters of Artists Alliance Inc for their continued support. Special thanks go to our team of dedicated volunteers and interns, without whom this program would not be possible.