Mel Chin

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Courtesy of the artist.

Mel Chin, "Revival Field Diorama," 2019.

Conceptual artist Mel Chin's exhibit There's Something Happening Here looks back on his 43-year career with objects, projects, prints and drawings. The exhibit includes sketches, diagrams and other prep work for Chin's large scale sculptures, paintings and conceptual art pieces, which illuminate the thinking behind the multilayered, allusive works. Galleries are open Thursday-Sunday noon-6 p.m., and the exhibit closes July 31.

press release: There’s Something Happening Here, an exhibition featuring works by internationally renowned artist Mel Chin, opens at noon on Saturday, March 12 (note new date), 2022. Chin is a conceptual artist and MacArthur Fellow whose work can take the form of a print or drawing, an assemblage or sculpture, or evolve into community-based social action.

Throughout his career he has investigated the capacity for ideas and art to combine and serve as a catalyst to shift social consciousness. Mel Chin: There's Something Happening Here focuses on objects, projects, prints, and drawings from the past 43 years of Chin's career that testify to the artist’s deep commitment to the intersection of art with social, political, and environmental justice.

Join us for an opening celebration and artist talk with Chin on Thursday, March 17, from 5-8 PM in the MMoCA Lobby. The event is admission free and includes live music from Caitlin Mead with The Stolen Sea, and a nonalcoholic cash bar and complimentary hors d’oeuvres.

The artist talk will take place from 6-7 PM in the Lecture Hall. The talk is part of the annual Stephen Fleischman Lecture Series honoring the 25th anniversary of MMoCA Director Emeritus Stephen Fleischman’s tenure at MMoCA. Register in advance to attend the talk at mel-chin-mmoca.eventbrite.com

Also: 9-11/9-11 • Imprint Gallery • March 12-July 31, 2022

Conceptual artist Mel Chin’s intensely compelling animated short film 9-11/9-11 will be screened in the Imprint Gallery during the artist’s upcoming show, There’s Something Happening Here. In the film, the artist weaves together the tragic stories of the 2001 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center in the United States with the U.S.-supported military overthrow of Chilean President Salvador Allende, which occurred on the same date of the month—September 11, 1973—28 years before the U.S. attacks.

The overthrow of Allende in Chile ushered in 17 years of autocratic rule under dictator Augusto Pinochet, leaving 3000 dead and thousands scarred by torture during the brutal regime. The film is presented as part of a global dialogue about the human impact of these collective traumas. 9-11/9-11 is based on the 2002 graphic novella by the same name, created by Mel Chin under the pen name Ignacio Moreles, which the artist distributed for free on the streets of New York City starting on 9-11-2002. On view concurrently on the Museum’s second-floor landing are copies of the completed graphic novella, the original drawings for the novella, and a selection of hand drawn animation cells from the film. 9-11/9-11 is a collaboration between Chin, American filmmaker Chip Schneider, and Chilean animation partners PlanoVisual Estudio de Animación in Santiago, Chile.