Phillip Chen: Chop Suey Men/Brothers Chen: Chen Yuke Thew, Suey, Foon, and Fong
Phillip Chen takes us back to a time and place that was once familiar but now mostly forgotten which can only be described as “Chinese Americana”.
Or when John Q. Public saw Chinatown through moo goo gai pan, egg foo young, chow mein, lexicon from a different era, old favorites now out of date.
Like the Chinese Exclusion Act-fueled bachelor societies whose denizens cooked many take-out pails of so-called “chop suey diplomacy” enough for Sheriff Andy Taylor to drive to Mount Pilot from Mayberry to eat and crack open a fortune cookie.
That the artist remembers, recounting tales of his father and uncles who ran these restaurants locally to refute the old myths and create a magical suite of relief etchings as family album and historical narrative.