Curated by: Khang Bao Nguyen Artists: Zeynep Abes, Jacinto Astiazarán, Isabel Beavers, Maura Bendett, Helen Chung, Daniel Gerwin, Regina Herod, Lester Monzon, Rebecca Niederlander, Khang Nguyen, Alaïa Parhizi, Connie Trevino, Cheyann Washington, Alex SoLA Contemporary is pleased to announce our first show of the new year, Sui Generis: Debates About the Singular, curated by Khang Bao Nguyen. A visual artist and student of comparative philosophy, Nguyen bridges these distinct traditions, blending various forms of mysticism, modern, and postmodern theory into his work. In Sui Generis: Debates About the Singular, Nguyen brings together 13 artists whose work probes at several philosophical inquiries: What is the singular and how is it expressed? What can we learn from philosophical studies and aesthetic explorations of the singular? According to both eastern and western tradition, the singular is not given, but rather, something that must be realized and achieved. In the context of contemporary art, the singular can be understood as the realization of one’s own unique voice. It necessitates breaking away from what has already been done and the refusal to conform to the established tradition. The artists in Sui Generis: Debates About the Singular, rise to this challenge and respond in varied, interdisciplinary ways. Ceramics, painting, film, and mixed-media art are all utilized to engage with and express this idea of the singular. “We are all part of a multitude, and we become singular only by surpassing the limitations and uniformity imposed on us... Debates about the singular pose aesthetic, ethical, epistemological, and ontological problems. To address them is the objective of this exhibition,” says Nguyen. Please join us as we usher in the new year. Sui Generis: Debates About the Singular will be on view at SoLA Contemporary January 8 - 22, 2022.