Exhibition
- On view June 24 – December 3, 2023
- Kidspace
Anne Samat, a Malaysian artist from Kuala Lumpur, spreads inspiring reminders that we are surrounded by love and compassion. In her solo Kidspace exhibition, the artist adorns traditional Southeast Asian Pua Kumbu weavings with humble household goods from 99 cent stores and thrift shops to construct totemic figurative sculptures. Brightly colored and heavily detailed, each one resonates as an avatar of a family member or friend. Samat’s work is dedicated to the feeling of love – found in personal relationships, in past generations that paved the way for her, and in potential feelings that could exist among strangers. The centerpiece of the installation will be a new piece that Samat created specifically for MASS MoCA. The sculpture, a larger than life size figure with outstretched arms, is created to feel like one is entering a hug. As part of the installation, the longest wall in Kidspace will be coated with a wallpaper based on Samat’s weavings.
About the Artist:
Anne Samat (b. 1973, Malaysia) graduated from the Mara Institute of Technology in Malaysia with a bachelor’s degree in textile design with an emphasis on weaving and a minor in resist print technique. She has shown extensively in Southeast Asia, most recently in an exhibition entitled Stories We Scare Ourselves With at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taiwan (2019); Elevation Laos, Vientiane, Laos; and the Yokohama Triennale in Japan (2017). In 2018, she had an exhibition at Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium in Norway, and in 2019, a residency and museum show at Hudson Valley MoCA in New York. Her work was featured in a major installation at the 2020 Asia Society Triennial in New York City. Samat has upcoming solo shows in university museums at the University of Wyoming in 2022 and at Virginia Tech in 2023. MASS MoCA will be Samat’s first exhibition in an American contemporary art museum.
EXHIBITION TEXTS
No Place for Beginners or Sensitive Heart #2, 2021
Rattan sticks, kitchen and garden utensils, beads, ceramic, metal and plastic ornaments
113 x 79 x 5 inches
Courtesy of the Artist and MARC STRAUS, New York
© Anne Samat