Tommy Kha: Eye is AnotherTommy Kha: Eye is Another
Tommy Kha, 'Eye is Another', 2022-23, Inkjet prints on Photo Tex, dimensions variable

January 27 - October 29, 2023

Tommy Kha: Eye is Another

Tommy Kha: Eye is Another is a site-specific, photography-based installation by artist Tommy Kha exploring themes of identity, (in)visibility, and sense of place. Kha’s installation considers the idea of the eye as an extension of the mind. The exhibition’s title, Eye is Another, is a play on words inspired by the French poet Arthur Rimbaud who in 1871 wrote, “Je est un autre,sometimes translated as “I is another,” or “I is an other.” These words suggest that our identities are complicated, that our sense of self can be other even to us, and that we may have multiple senses of self—our own identities are both familiar and alien. These views of the self resonate for Kha—growing up queer and Chinese American in the American South—and influence much of his work.

The dome in the museum’s rotunda features a photo-mosaic of an eye, composed of images of the sky from the two cities where Kha splits his time; Memphis and New York. Its shape is based on Kha’s own eye while its blue color is borrowed from Elvis—an abstract continuation of the artist’s earlier work featuring images of himself dressed as the famed singer. Surrounding the rotunda are Kha’s large-scale photographic prints of the Southern landscape. Green shag rugs resembling grass are scattered around the rotunda floor to encourage visitors to lie down and “sky” gaze. In the center is a blanket printed with a photograph, itself composed of collaged photographed items, from a typical family meal with Kha and his relatives, creating a place to gather, rest, and contemplate.

Tommy Kha: Eye is Another, curated by the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art’s Associate Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art, Dr. Patricia Daigle. is presented as part of the inaugural, state-wide Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art organized by Tri-Star Arts. The triennial is guided by the theme “RE-PAIR”—to heal, suture, and recompose fractured bodies—developed by consulting curator Dr.Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons.

Exhibition Programs

Thursday
9 Mar
2023
10:00 am

Nature In The Museum- Homeschool Day

Join us for our March Homeschool Day to explore Tommy Kha's Rotunda Project and other artists influenced by nature and landscapes!

Free
Event Details
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Artist

Curators

Artist + Curator

Tommy Kha

Tommy Kha

Tommy Kha (b. 1988, Memphis, TN) is a photographer currently working between Brooklyn, New York, and Memphis, Tennessee. He received his BFA in Photography from Memphis College of Art in 2011 and his MFA in Photography from Yale University in 2013. He is a recipient of the Next Step Award, Foam Talent, Creator Labs Photo’ Fund, and most recently named an NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Photography. Kha’s first monograph, Half, Full, Quarter, will be published by Aperture in February 2023.

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Tommy Kha

Tommy Kha (b. 1988, Memphis, TN) is a photographer currently working between Brooklyn, New York, and Memphis, Tennessee. He received his BFA in Photography from Memphis College of Art in 2011 and his MFA in Photography from Yale University in 2013. He is a recipient of the Next Step Award, Foam Talent, Creator Labs Photo’ Fund, and most recently named an NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Photography. Kha’s first monograph, Half, Full, Quarter, will be published by Aperture in February 2023.

View Artist's Website
Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art

Dr. Patricia Daigle

Patricia Lee Daigle is the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. She previously served as Director of The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art at the University of Memphis and Curatorial Assistant in Contemporary Art at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Daigle received her Ph.D. in the History of Art and Architecture from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Dr. Patricia Daigle

Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art

Dr. Patricia Daigle

Patricia Lee Daigle is the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. She previously served as Director of The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art at the University of Memphis and Curatorial Assistant in Contemporary Art at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Daigle received her Ph.D. in the History of Art and Architecture from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Program Recordings

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Resources

The 901 Black American Portraits Soundtrack

The 901 Black American Portraits Soundtrack

Listen to a soundtrack of Memphis music that exemplifies Black Love, Power, and Joy. The 901 Black American Portraits Soundtrack celebrates the vibrant legacy and future of Black musicians in the city of Memphis. This playlist was curated by Jared “Jay B” Boyd, a Memphis-based multimedia artist, journalist, DJ, and on-air personality.

Listen Now

MCA Exhibition Questionnaire

MCA Exhibition Questionnaire

Help us generate the fullest picture possible of the MCA experience.
Submitting a questionnaire, which includes a request for an image of an artwork, is essential to be considered for part of the exhibition.

Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?

Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?

The American art theorist Linda Nochlin (1931-2017) posed this question as the title of a pioneering article in 1971. This essay was considered one of the first major works of Feminist art history, it has become a set text for those who study art internationally, and it is influential in many other fields.

Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? by Linda Nochlin