From June through August 2023, artist collective CFGNY takes up residence in SculptureCenter’s lower level galleries. In addition to creating a new body of work, CFGNY will further draw out the contours of the “vaguely Asian” by hosting visitors, collaborators, and friends with programming that expands the collective’s ongoing and foundational dialogue. By inviting the expanded community of CFGNY into SculptureCenter, the collective looks to emphasize the sides of their practice that are un-exhibitable and relational. CFGNY’s residency is anchored by four two-person exhibitions in SculptureCenter’s lower-level “bar” space (Creative Friend Group New York Bar), as well as an event in collaboration with XTRA.SERVICES founder and Basement resident LYDO.

CFGNY’s residency also includes a shop where garments from the collective’s fourth collection, FASHION MAX 2, can be purchased.

CFGNY Shop
Weekends, Jun 3–Aug 7, 12–6pm
Shop CFGNY’s latest collection FASHION MAX 2 at SculptureCenter every Saturday and Sunday, 12–6pm.

Summer Openings at SculptureCenter hosted by CFGNY
Thu, Jun 29, 6–8pm
Creative Friend Group New York Bar
On view during SculptureCenter public hours

#1 – Jun 4–Jun 12
Umico Niwa, Priscilla Jeong

#2 – Jun 16–Jun 26
KAYA, Margaret Lee

#3 – Jun 30–Jul 10
Deborah Joyce Holman, Lotus Laurie Kang

#4 – Jul 14–Aug 7
Avena Gallagher, Patia Borja

Concept Foreign Garments New York Shop 
Through Jul 30
*Final shop weekend Sat, Jul 29 and Sun, Jul 30, 12-6pm
*Last chance to shop CFGNY’s latest collection FASHION MAX 2

Creative Friend Group New York Bar #4: Avena Gallagher, Patia Borja 
Through Jul 31
*On view during SculptureCenter public hours, Thu-Mon, 12-6pm

LYDO x CFGNY 
Upcoming Aug 4-7
*On view during SculptureCenter public hours, Fri, Aug 4 through Mon, Aug 7, 12pm-6pm

LYDO and CFGNY present a sonic event to close out CFGNY’s summer residency at SculptureCenter. A site-specific sound installation, Nervous System explores the interplay between sound, hormonal transitions, and corporeal sensations. Created with the architecture of SculptureCenter in mind, the installation triggers a psychosomatic dialogue, fostering a sense of safety, introspection, and transformation within the long basement-level tunnel: a secondary body enclosing the visitor’s own. LYDO is an interdisciplinary artist based in New York City. As a resident DJ of BASEMENT NY, their distinctive sets explode the parameters of techno, deftly cutting across genres while retaining a highly personal emotional resonance. Lydo also runs X-TRA GEAR.SERVICES, crafting highly sought-after practical objects and gear for the rave. Before becoming a seasonal resident party at BASEMENT, X-TRA.SERVICES had a cult following as a regularly sold-out underground party. A non-binary trans artist themselves, LYDO launched X-TRA.SERVICES to serve and create space for queer, trans, and nonbinary people of color.

CFGNY
Founded in 2016 as an ongoing dialogue on the intersection of art, fashion, and identity, artist collective CFGNY continually returns to the term “vaguely Asian”: an understanding of racial identity as a specific cultural experience combined with the experience of being perceived as other. In addition to using fashion as a readymade, CFGNY’s practice spans mediums such as video, performance, architectural installation, and sculpture, researching the ways in which material assemblage and reproduction play a part in the formation and racialization of such “vaguely Asian” identities. CFGNY does not wish to represent what it means to be “Asian” in the singular; instead, it encourages the visualization of the countless ways one is able to be in the plural. CFGNY is composed of Daniel Chew, Ten Izu, Kirsten Kilponen, and Tin Nguyen.