Each artist seizes a third of the triptych. Like stone lions, they look at us with eyes that say, this is their turf-not ours. We don't know what sort of foul play lies behind, or whether their stiltedness comes from agonies of guilt, or grief, or fear. These are oppressed people who become oppressors themselves. That metamorphosis is what makes the highbinder so tortured.
Oscar yi Hou reconfigures the recognizable. He bedecks his portraits with a system of symbols as ostensibly oriental as souvenirs from a Chinatown gift shop. A flock of cranes flutter about. Yin-yang coils burst into balls of flame trailing claw-like tendrils of red smoke.
On view until November 16, his tremendous show at James Fuentes gallery, The beat of life, sees those folds between homage and caricature pucker constantly. The swirling imagery challenges viewers to rethink cultural identity through a playful yet profound lens.
Collection
[
|
...
]