Dallas, TX and Hong Kong—January 13, 2016 — In commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the Dallas Museum of Art’s Concentrations series, the DMA will premiere the first overseas exhibition of this series with New York–based artist Margaret Lee during Art Basel Hong Kong 2016. Duddell’s x DMA: Concentrations HK: Margaret Lee, presented in collaboration with Duddell’s, an art space located in Hong Kong’s central business district, will feature an installation of new, site-specific work by Lee that explores the image, object and gesture as an embodiment of desire. The exhibition, organized by Gabriel Ritter, the DMA’s Nancy and Tim Hanley Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, will be on view exclusively at Duddell’s from March 21, 2016 through June 21, 2016.
For more than three decades, the DMA’s Concentrations series of contemporary, project-based exhibitions has provided a platform for international emerging and underrepresented artists. For Concentrations HK: Margaret Lee, the artist will create a site-specific installation, displacing iconic works from the DMA’s permanent collection directly onto the walls of Duddell’s via trompe l’oeil wallpaper design. Lee will also create a new series of photographic images that will be installed in relationship to the wallpaper that directly address ideas surrounding cultural exchange, fetish and aesthetic representations of power. This juxtaposition is meant to decontextualize iconic objects and images, thereby destabilizing established signs and signifiers. In Lee’s work, the act of presentation becomes a subject unto itself, with her objects and images working to address larger issues around desire and power.
“Margaret Lee is an ideal choice for the Concentrations series’ debut during Art Basel Hong Kong as she is both a deft ambassador for, and inquisitor of the DMA’s permanent collection. Her site-specific project will introduce the DMA to a Hong Kong audience while challenging us to rethink the role of the contemporary in an encyclopedic collection,” said Ritter. “The DMA is excited to work with Duddell’s to realize Margaret Lee’s first solo presentation in Asia. As a non-conventional art space, Duddell’s represents the intersection of art, fashion and design that is unique to Hong Kong—all of which are central to Margaret’s project.”
Since 1981, Concentrations has served as the first U.S. museum exhibition for a number of emerging contemporary artists, as well as the first large-scale solo museum exhibition for many others. Past Concentrations have featured figures such as Doug Aitken, Maureen Gallace, Jenny Holzer, Anri Sala, and Kiki Smith. The Museum’s ongoing commitment to the Concentrations series reflects the DMA’s continued development of its leading contemporary art collections and programs.
About Margaret Lee
Margaret Lee has exhibited widely both in the U.S. and internationally. She participated in NO MAN’S LAND: Women Artists from the Rubell Family Collection (2015), Rubell Family Collection, Miami; Hammer Museum’s Made in L.A. biennial (2014); Lyon Biennale (2013), France; Sunbathers 2, 1857, Oslo, Norway (2014); New Pictures of Common Objects (2012), MoMA PS1, Long Island City; White Columns Annual (2011), New York; and closer to right than wrong/closer to wrong than right (2014), Jack Hanley Gallery, New York. In 2009, Lee founded the artist-run space 179 Canal, and is currently a partner at the gallery 47 Canal. Lee lives and works in New York City.
Lee’s work is included in the public collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Dallas Museum of Art; Dikeou Collection, Denver; and Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo.
About the Dallas Museum of Art
Established in 1903, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is among the 10 largest art museums in the country and is distinguished by its commitment to research, innovation, and public engagement. At the heart of the Museum and its programs is its global collection, which encompasses more than 23,000 works and spans 5,000 years of history, representing a full range of world cultures. Located in the nation’s largest arts district, the Museum welcomes over 650,000 visitors annually and acts as a catalyst for community creativity, engaging people of all ages and backgrounds with a diverse spectrum of programming, from exhibitions and lectures to concerts, literary events, and dramatic and dance presentations. In January 2013, the DMA returned to a free general admission policy and launched DMA Friends, a free program available to anyone who wishes to join, focused on active engagement with the Museum. For more information, visit DMA.org.
The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
About Duddell's
Duddell’s is a cultural and social destination created for people who have an active appreciation of the arts. Founded by Yenn Wong of the JIA Group, Duddell’s is neither museum nor gallery—it is an inspiring backdrop against which ideas are shared and developed, connecting art and people in a new way. Duddell’s vibrant art program is led by a dedicated Arts Committee of cultural leaders, which includes Yana Peel and William Zhao, to present lectures, talks, screenings and exhibitions of the most relevant artwork to the region today. With interiors as noteworthy as the art on its walls, entering Duddell’s feels like being welcomed into the home of a great art collector—one that also happens to have an in-house two Michelin–starred Cantonese chef, a lush 2,000-square-foot Garden Terrace, and a sophisticated salon with artisanal cocktails and vintage champagne. Conceived as the perfect instrument to enable other events and experiences to happen, the interior architecture and design are by London-based Ilse Crawford, awarded the AD Spain International Prize 2013 for Contribution and Influential Work in Architecture, Design and Interior Design.