Join us at SEIZAN Gallery for a special screening of Half Life (2020) by Alex Ito, followed by a conversation with curator Howie Chen.
In commemoration of Day of Remembrance (February 19)—marking the issuance of Executive Order 9066 in 1942, which led to the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II—SEIZAN Gallery presents Ito’s Half Life. This 12-minute video work dreamily weaves together 3D animation and footage from the artist’s visit to Gila River, Arizona, where his grandparents were incarcerated, alongside imagery from a nuclear waste site in New Mexico, Trinity Site at White Plains Missile Range and a family home.
Following the screening, Howie Chen, director and curator at 80WSE Gallery (NYU), will engage in a discussion with Ito about his ongoing exploration of family memory, war, and displacement. The talk will also delve into Ito’s works currently on view in the group exhibition LIFE STUDIES, including Western Verbiage V (Risk Management)—a site-specific assemblage in dialogue with works by Miné Okubo and Hiroshima-based photographer Aya Fujioka.
Screening & Gallery Talk: Alex Ito X Howie Chen
Saturday, February 22, 2pm
SEIZAN Gallery
525 W 26th St. Ground Floor, New York, NY 10001
A mixer with refreshments will follow the talk.
About the Speakers
Alex Ito is a fourth-generation Japanese American artist whose interdisciplinary practice explores the visual cultures of violence, war, and industrialization. His work reflects on historical memory, inviting viewers to recognize the precarious frameworks of life within a world of uncertainty and possibility. Ito’s art has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including Other World/s at the Schneider Museum of Art in Ashland, Oregon, currently on view through March 15, 2025.
Howie Chen is the director and curator of 80 Washington Square East (80WSE) Gallery at NYU and the founding director of Chen’s, a Brooklyn townhouse gallery. Previously, he held positions at the Whitney Museum and MoMA PS1. His work spans curatorial practice, publishing, and research. Chen is also the editor of Godzilla: Asian American Arts Network 1990-2001 and the curator of Legacy: Asian American Art Movements in New York City (1969-2001) at 80WSE Gallery.
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