Publisher's Synopsis
An-My Lê: Between Two Rivers is the most comprehensive account of the artist's career to date, encompassing three decades of her work across photographs, embroideries, videos, and installations.
Through her photographs, videos, installations, and embroidered works, An-My Lê considers cycles of global history and conflict, and the consequences of diaspora, politics, and the sensationalizing of warfare. Born in Vietnam in 1960, Lê came to the United States in 1975 as a political refugee, after the fall of Saigon. Published to accompany the artist's first New York museum survey, An-My Lê: Between Two Rivers is the first catalogue to present Lê's three-decade practice in different mediums, with the artist's seven photographic series alongside textiles, installations, and rediscovered films. The two rivers in the title refer to the Mekong River in Vietnam and the Mississippi River in the southern United States, two important geographic locations that appear in the artist's photography from the earliest to the most recent works. An essay by the curator Roxana Marcoci examines the full sweep of Lê's creative practice; four essays by the scholars La Frances Hui, Joan Kee, Thy Phu, and Caitlin Ryan each focus on specific series; and two texts by the writers Monique Truong and Ocean Vuong bring poetic sensibility to Lê's singular perspective.
