AAA-A is excited to host presentations by our inaugural Zine Residents: Lulu Yao Gioiello, Jennifer Tobias, Frank WANG Yefeng and Alchemyverse.

These four residents were selected through a competitive open call, tasked with creating a zine that responded to AAA-A’s digital and physical collections. Each resulting zine approached our collections from a different perspective. One represents an ongoing index of Asian art collectives past and present; one offers an illustrated user guide to AAA research collections; one intertwines digital collaborations with references to the work of philosopher Yuk Hui; and one draws an allegorical parallel between the materiality of lava and the formation of the archive.

In these presentations, each resident discussed the process behind their zines and the context of this zine within their own practice. Their presentations were followed by a conversation between the residents, moderated by Yayoi Shionoiri.

Lulu Yao Gioiello

Lulu Yao Gioiello (b. New York City) is an artist and creative director of Taiwanese and Italian descent with a particular interest in contextualizing and regenerating personal histories.  In 2018 she founded FAR–NEAR, a curated book series and platform aimed at broadening perspectives of Asia through image, person, idea and history to unlearn the inherent dominative mode. Through the publication, she has collaborated with the artists and theorists Trinh T. Minh ha, Zhang Huan, Kikuji Kawada, Slavs and Tatars and Takashi Homma, among others. Aside from publishing, Lulu writes, conducts research, designs and directs for various publications, galleries, art organizations and brands. Notable commissions include Circa.art, Document Journal, Prada, Nowness Asia and Modern Weekly China. Her work has been presented and displayed internationally, with several of her publications held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Thomas J. Watson Library and in galleries and bookstores around the world.

Jennifer Tobias

Jennifer Tobias is a scholar and illustrator. She holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the City University of New York, an MLS from Rutgers, and a BFA from Cooper Union. She provided reader services at the Museum of Modern Art and Parsons School of Design libraries. Currently she researches provenance for Roy Lichtenstein Catalogue Raisonné, forthcoming in 2023. She has published, curated exhibitions, led workshops, and organized conferences on artists’ publications, including zines. She was a co-author and the lead illustrator for Extra Bold: a Feminist, Inclusive, Subversive, Non-Binary Field Guide for Graphic Design (Princeton Architectural Press, 2021). She recently completed a residency at the Bard Graduate Center Library on the subject of applied arts training programs in New York City from 1800 to the present.

Frank WANG Yefeng

Frank WANG Yefeng (b.1984, Shanghai, China) is a transdisciplinary artist and researcher based in New York, NY. Working with multiple media including video and animation, sculpture, installation, and writing, he explores a self-becoming in relation to the ideas of “in-betweenness” and “disidentification.” Yefeng addresses the “in-between” habitats as productive spaces of cultural transformation for challenging dominant cultural genealogies and entrenched identity paradigms. Yefeng received an MFA in Art and Technology Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011. He has participated in numerous venues internationally, including the BRIC Biennial, the OCAT Biennial, and the Wrong Biennale. His projects have been exhibited in the Armory Show, CCS Bard Hessel Museum of Art, Gasworks London, Pylon Lab, Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, Shenzhen OCAT Contemporary Art Terminal, Hyundai Motorstudio Beijing, Shanghai K11 Museum, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Vanguard Gallery, and others. In addition, Yefeng has been awarded solo exhibitions at Smack Mellon and The New York Art Residency and Studios (NARS) Foundation, artist in residencies at the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), and NARS Foundation, as well as Fellowships at MacDowell and the Vermont Studio Center among others.

Alchemyverse

Alchemyverse is an artist duo based in New York. The members combine craft and research through their respective backgrounds in visual arts and sound studies. Their practice explores the theme of transformation intimating their diasporic experiences, which mines meaning and reconciliation in the wilderness. Their work builds sensory channels between the deep time and the human experience, emphasizing the mutual empathy amongst materials, people, and land.

Bicheng Liang (b. 1994, China) received his MFA from Columbia University and BFA from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, China. Yixuan Shao (b. 1996, China/US) received her MFA from Columbia University and Bachelor’s degree in Composition from the University of California, San Diego. Together, Alchemyverse has exhibited at the School of Visual Arts (NY), Lenfest Center of the Arts (NY), Catherine Fosnot Art Gallery and Center (CT), LeRoy Neiman Gallery (NY), and the Bishop Museum. Their artist research was presented at the IRCAM forum at New York University. A recent alumnus of the 2022 leadership camp at Asia Art Archive in America and the 2021 Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Arts Center Residency program, the duo was also a finalist of the 2021 Monira Foundation Artist Residency Program and the 2022 Smack Mellon Artist in Residence Program. Currently, they are in residence at the International Studio & Curatorial Program (NY).

Yayoi Shionoiri

Yayoi Shionoiri is an art lawyer who supports artists.  She serves as Executive Director to the Estate of Chris Burden and the Studio of Nancy Rubins, where she is responsible for stewarding Burden’s art historical legacy and promoting Rubins’ artistic practice.  She also serves as U.S. Alliance Partner to City Lights Law, a Japanese law firm that represents creators, innovators, and artists.  In the past, Yayoi has served as General Counsel and Head of Asia Strategy to Artsy, Associate General Counsel of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and Legal Advisor to Takashi Murakami.  She has degrees from Harvard University, Cornell Law School, and Columbia University. She proudly serves as a Board Director of Asia Art Archive in America, a Consultative Council member to new Japanese art fair, Tokyo Gendai, and an Advisory Panelist to the Serpentine Gallery’s Legal Lab.  Instagram: @yayoi_shionoiri

The Inaugural AAA-A Zine Residency Presentation was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.