Asha Schechter
Summer 2018
Honolulu, Oʻahu Hawaiʻi
We are excited to welcome Los Angeles based artist Asha Schechter to TRADES this Summer, from July 18 – August 7. Asha plans to research and produce a short film while in residence on Oʻahu. “Asha Schechter’s artistic practice is set within the context of a networked, commodity-centric culture—where a wholesale movement away from privileging the ‘source’ or ‘original’ is coded into every creative photographic gesture.” (aperture.org)
Asha has exhibited at Gavin Browns Enterprise, M+B, LA>< Gallery, and Albert Baronian Gallery in Brussels, among others. Schechter currently teaches History of Photography at the Art Center College of Design and Fine Art at Otis College of Art and Design. In addition to his art practice, Asha established The Vanity in 2011, a small gallery carved out of a closet in his Los Angeles apartment. In 2013, The Vanity moved to an space in 356 Mission Road as The Vanity East where it remained until itʻs closure last month. He is also a part of the collective space Potts, in Alhambra, CA.
In his own words: “In previous works I have shot what are essentially experimental documentaries to look at different kinds of production, branding and labor. I am interested with these works in understanding how through different languages (both visual and spoken) producers try to communicate not only the thing they are making, but a politic or worldview attached to that. Subjects of these videos have included Baristas, Bakeries, Architecture and Artists. My interest in coming to Hawaii would be to look into how these kinds of things exist there, with the specific context and circumstances of that place. My interest is not to tell the subjects things about themselves, or to implicitly critique, but to see how through observation and juxtaposition we can start to consider how our current moment looks and feels and to understand how different entities participate in an economy that is largely concerned with images.”
Please join us at Aupuni Space on Thursday, July 19 at 7 p.m. to welcome Asha to O‘ahu and learn about his plans for his time in residence.
Asha will present a screening of works from a range of artists that echo ideas of labor, production and aesthetics he will be working with during his residency. An open conversation will follow the screening.