ATLANTA, GEORGIA.-The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center presents Red Beans and Rice: Asian Artists in the New South, on view through October 29. The American South has struggled with the ideals of equality throughout its controversial history. The Civil Rights era and desegregation of the 1960’s began the era of the “New South”. Yet even today there are pockets of resistance, places where even though the law says that all people are equal, some are more equal than others.

Red Beans and Rice brings together an under-recognized group of artists profoundly influenced by their experiences in the Southern states. The exhibition dissects themes including cultural engagement, dual citizenship, Christian, American, and Asian ideals and stereotypes. Some of these artists were born in the South and have deep roots in the region. For others it has become their home through adoption and absorption, but their sentiments about the South are often in conflict with the traditions and cultures they grew up with. As the process of Americanization begins, these artists reexamine, redefine, and integrate a new vision of home. For many, the longing for distant homelands might never pass, with fantasies of home distorted through the processes of memory and myth making.