Frederick, MD – Frederick Arts Council (FAC) announces the April 11th opening of a new large-scale exhibition by artist Khánh H. Lê on the 2nd floor of its 5 E. 2nd Street Art Center. The exhibit, entitled "Making Memories While We Wait," features colorful paintings, photographic collage, and dramatic cut paper hangings that stretch from floor to ceiling.  

Khánh H. Lê (b. 1981, Long Dinh, Vietnam) continuously probes his personal and familial histories to carve out a cultural identity for himself. Lê creates dazzling compositions based on deteriorating photographs and collective memories of his and his relations’ experiences as refugees living in Vietnamese internment camps in the 1980s. Through the collaging of materials such as acrylic paintings, glitter, prints, and sparkling plastic craft jewels, Lê merges narratives—both horrific realities and idyllic fantasies—that are filled with tension as he explores notions of home, country, and safety.

Lê graduated with an MFA from Syracuse University in 2008. His work has been exhibited at the Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, New Jersey; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; and locally at Vox Populi, Honfleur Gallery, DC Arts Center, Hillyer Art Space, Transformer, CulturalDC, Pyramid Atlantic, and Arlington Arts Center. The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities awarded Lê an Artist Fellowship for the Visual Arts in 2011, and 2015 through 2020. Lê was awarded second place in the Bethesda Painting Prize in 2018 and was a 2019 semifinalist of the Sondheim Artscape Prize in Baltimore.

"Making Memories While We Wait” opens on the 2nd floor of FAC's 5 E. 2nd Street art center on Tuesday, April 11th, and will remain on view until July.

Lê will hold an artist talk at the exhibit on Thursday, April 20^th at 6 pm.

Location: Frederick's New Art Center, 5 East 2nd Street, Frederick, MD

The art center is open Tuesday-Sunday, 11 am-5 pm.