The Art of Memory: The Lining of Forgetting at AMOA [Art Review]

The Austin Museum of Art downtown is showing The Lining of Forgetting: Internal & External Memory in Art. The museum has hosted a series of related film screenings and public tours. In the exhibit, the artists get creative with their interpretation of memory: some of the subjects explored include family photo albums, Road Runner cartoons, and the works of Shakespeare. The Lining of Forgetting examines the ways we remember, and highlights how we often forget, rewrite, and even fabricate memory. “I had a flashback of something that never existed,” artist Louise Bourgeois writes on fabric. One of the most intriguing pieces is by Dinh Q. Lê, who has taken large-scale woven photographs and intertwined archival images documenting the Vietnam War with stills from popular Hollywood films about the conflict.

On Thursday, AMOA will host a Feast of Memory wherein participants are encouraged to bring a dish that triggers a delicious food memory. David Ansel, The Soup Peddler, Marla Camp, publisher of Edible Austin, and the crew from Boggy Creek Farm will also be participating in the potluck. Those who bring a dish for four to six people and share a related food memory will get in free to the event and exhibit. Space is limited, so RSVPs are required.

AMOA Executive Director Dana Friis-Hansen comments, “Memory connects us to our past and to each other in a way that is unparalleled. It is a very prevalent topic in the news these days due to scientific studies on the brain, our concerns about aging, and recent advances in technology that allow us to store huge amounts of information. The artists in this exhibition explore those aspects in addition to the human side of memory that every visitor will be able to relate to.”

The Lining of Forgetting runs through August 9th at AMOA Downtown.

This entry was written by Nina Godiwalla, a new contributing Arts writer.