“The group exhibition ME LOVE YOU LONG TIME (MLYLT) is inspired by cultural politics at the intersection of the Vietnam War, sex, film, popular music, and contemporary art.” http://www.aljira.org/. Curated by Edwin Ramoran, opening on February 16, 2012.

The works by Chath pierSath and Oeur Sokuntevy included in the exhibition are described here:

Wailing Wall of Love
Chath pierSath

This provocative piece by emerging artist Chath pierSath looks at the pornographic nature of sexuality which often replaces intimacy and love in the media, specifically in gay culture.  The image of the promiscuous gay man is repeated all over the mass and underground media.  But here the artist inserts his own narrative.  Working with found images and text, he separates them from the whole or breaks them down into smaller parts.  These parts are then transformed into the building blocks of his visual vocabulary that he reconfigures to tell his own story.  This process of deconstruction and reconstruction is the foundation of his work, an experiment to find connections to his own experiences.

The 48 panels that make up the Wailing Wall of Love are composed of individual pages torn from a photographic book.  The artist works by layering these appropriated images with his own invented images, fusing the parallel narratives of a “reality” presented by the media (the photographic book serving only as a symbolic representation) and the “fiction” derived from emotions and memories.  It is not intended to moralize sexuality but instead to consider the isolation, loneliness and shame that can be part of the sexual act.

L’amour à mort (Love to Death)
Oeur Sokuntevy

The role of women in Cambodian culture has been strictly defined by the Ch’bab Srey (Code of Conduct for Women) from the 19th century.  In it women are advised to stay quiet, respect their husband, take care of the house and basically do what they are told.  Losing some of its severity over time, the Ch’bab Srey still pervades oral tradition as it is passed on through generations of women.  This idealized woman casts a long shadow over a new generation as they look to the world around them for inspiration.

Sokuntevy is not innately a feminist but has become one by default.  Unlike many of her peers, and against her family’s wishes, Sokuntevy rejects the archaic model from the Ch’bab Srey.  Her works on paper question the familial roles of women, their social status and intimate relationships. Through this exploration of a woman’s life, the artist is questioning her own identity and where she belongs.