Meiying Thai:
I Loved You on Every Rooftop
June 30-July 16, 2021
High Line Nine Galleries
NEW YORK, NY—June 30, 2021— I Loved You on Every Rooftop, a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Meiying Thai, was on view at the High Line Nine Galleries at 507 West 27th Street from June 30-July 16th, 2021 with an opening on Thursday, July 1 from 6-8pm. The exhibition featured a collection of works that invite viewers into a dreamlike theatrical world.
Fragmented memories come alive in Thai’s colorful dreamworld, a fantasy space that is part-storybook, part-theater set. Gestural brushstrokes combined with childlike drawing weave narratives inspired by the artist’s own experiences of love, travel, and performance. The paintings depict women as sisters, lovers, and friends—many inspired by either Thai’s own image or drawn from the women in her life. Thai, who describes her work as “visual love letters,” sees each piece as an enlarged page in an ongoing sketchbook. Love notes, eraser marks, and elements of collage add to the emphasis on process: each image suggests a larger unfolding narrative. Though the works are almost entirely autobiographical, Thai encourages her viewers to draw their own ideas from the pieces. “In the past, when I’ve shown some of these paintings, I’ve discovered this amazing interactive element where people begin to tell me their own stories,” says Thai. “Ultimately, I view each piece almost like a small theater that invites the viewer to live and imagine their own story within it.” Thai, who spent her childhood and adolescence dancing with the New York City Ballet, pulls her visual language from memories of the ballet world. Fans, guitars, costumes, and flowers create a language of symbols within her work that ground her figures in a timeless space inspired by classical ballets and her travels through southern Europe. The exhibition will also feature a new film piece by Thai exploring love through process, collage, and dance. The work utilizes Thai’s unique process of “projection collage” in which she layers moments of choreography with mediums including drawing and painting.
A limited-edition series of signed fine art prints was available for purchase at the gallery for the duration of the exhibition.
507 West 27th Street NY, NY
10001
"I always want pancakes, especially with you"
Composed by Danielle Fisher
Performed by Lydia Hong and Danny Mui, musicians from the New York City Ballet Orchestra.
This performance was recorded at the opening reception of 'I Loved You on Every Rooftop'
Installation photography by Alejandro Leon