Be Like Water, My Friend

Richard Wathen, Stipan Tadic, Uwe Henneken, Ivana Carman, HyeGyeong Choi, Koichi Sato, David Risley, Jade Kim, Albert Shelton, Ela Wilschanski

“You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

Another Place Gallery is pleased to present Be Like Water, My Friend.

A year and a half after Bruce Lee’s “be like water,” interview, the movie star had tragically passed away. In life, he had a been a tenacious fighter and creator who pushed against the boundaries of both the traditional martial arts, infamously teaching Wing Chun to non Chinese students, as well as Hollywood’s film standards, rebuking the convention of non-Asian actors playing Asian roles, setting out instead for Hong Kong where he would make movies which would define the Kung Fu genre, a form which he pivoted into an international idiom. In death, Burce Lee became a symbol, and like his philosophy, has taken on many forms, shifting between cultures and contexts, coursing with the power to push boundaries.

For visual arts, the imperative to “be water,” recalls the creative flow state, water based medium, and dynamic form. Quiet moments, found in the city scenes of watercolorists Stipan Tadic, David Risley and Ivana Carman, are contrasted by the screeching tires and pulse pounding in Albert Sheldon’s psychedelic compositions. Water’s stillness and hidden power can be sensed in portraits by Jade Kim and Richard Wathen. For sculptor Ela Wilschanski and painter Uwe Henneken, forms curve and flow, carrying energy, while HyeGyeong Choi’s landscapes blend figures into their surroundings. Shifting between representative and abstract, these works expand on Bruce Lee’s infamous words, overcoming barriers by embracing opposing elements.

To be water is to to refuse contradiction, a force which can either flow gently or become a raging torrent. Like an artist, water can fill a vessel, following it’s form, or can break it down.Visual culture fuses people beyond place and time. Landscape, energy, and form speak for themselves. A fighter dances and strikes, a painter makes darkness from light. Bruce Lee’s philosophy moves beyond his particularity, flowing across international channels. Inspiring, raging, and life giving—like water.