Opening Reception: Lounge of A Prophet

Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space is pleased to present Lounge of A Prophet, a solo show with recent works by former LES Studio Program resident Mo Kong, on view at 88 Essex Street from March 25 through May 21, 2022.

Mo Kong’s Lounge of A Prophet at Cuchifritos Gallery will serve as a sequel to Personal Ark®–the artist’s Queens Museum debut. The series of furniture/sculptures reference the overlapping data points of two line graphs–International Trade Rates and Natural Disaster Rates from 2009 to 2020–with each section providing a solution for shelter during ecological collapse and economic isolation. The work is reimagined and transformed into the home of a prophet; home decorations serve as makeshift fortune-telling equipment piled on top of a butt-warming bench, food preservation units, and bookshelves to create a space of refuge and respite.

The odor of the lounge will replicate a “Chinese Smell,” as described in Otis Gibson’s 1877 book Chinese in America, created only with ingredients bio-pirated from Asia by multinational corporations. Since the 18th century, olfaction has been a racializing tool against Asian Americans and has been used to limit the expansion of Chinatowns in major cities throughout the country. Inspired by the plastic-wrapped furniture of Asian moms everywhere, Lounge of A Prophet will be encased in shrinkwrap, transforming its objects and furniture into containers for the scent ingredients.