Just Between Us Catalog!

Accompanying the exhibition, "Just Between Us: From the Archives of Arlan Huang," is this fully illustrated catalog.

Published by Pearl River Mart and Think!Chinatown, the book begins with an introductory essay by Danielle Wu, followed by an interview between Howie Chen and Arlan Huang. Huang's collection traces his time in the Asian American arts network, Godzilla, and the Chinatown-based collective Basement Workshop. Featured artists include Tomie Arai, Ken Chu, Corky Lee, Alex Paik, Hoyt Soohoo, Bob Hsiang, and Martin Wong. As the owner of the frame shop Squid Frames, Huang kept longtime correspondence with conceptual artist Sol Lewitt.

Like a confidence between friends, intel given off the record, or a shared history or experience, the exhibition is “just between us.” The phrase evokes the major principles that form the bedrock of Huang’s collecting ethics: that art should circulate outside the logic of the market; that it should not seek approval from heteropatriarchal white institutions; and that shared gossip and complaint forges the most precious friendships.

An abundance of Asian Americans in the collection often prompts Huang to consider it an “Asian American art collection.” Presented for the first time in this scale, the collection asks what Asian American art is and could be, and why Asian American identity and life continues to matter.

This book is made possible thanks to support of the State of New York and New York State Council on the Arts. It is also supported, in part, by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. The book design is by Gabrielle Chang.

(Update: "Just Between Us" closed on Sept. 10, 2023 and the catalog is sold out.)