Art

Indigenous Art Taking Centre Stage

BY

Alison Chiu

Indigenous art invites us to embrace a spectrum of human experience that is both profoundly unique and universally resonant. This journey through the realms of artistic expression holds a mirror to the richness of Indigenous cultures, encouraging a deeper, more nuanced appreciation of diversity within the global tapestry of art.

Zhang Xiaogang's 'Big Family No. 9'

BY

Megan Lee

In Zhang Xiaogang’s bloodline: Big Family No. 9, we may not relate to the stifling and oppressive emotions conveyed, or fully understand the figures’ individual histories and unnerving nuances, yet we resonate with the lingering sense of nostalgia and hazy emotional undercurrents. We empathize with those who have been stripped of their voice to tell their story. We remind ourselves of our own beautiful, cultural heritage.

On Matthew Wong

BY

Darren Chiu

A self-taught Canadian artist known for his dappled, dreamy landscapes and still lifes that invite you into his world and encourage you to contemplate your own. At the heart of his paintings is this sense of blissful melancholy. Behind the vibrant colours and dreamy landscapes, his paintings explore his sense of self and personal journey through his rather solitary life.

The Art of ‘Bad’ Art: on Tracey Emin’s My Bed

BY

Megan Lee

In Tracey Emin’s My Bed, we realize that art is about expression, meaning, and the authenticity of human emotion. In using such an evocative installation, Emin not only illustrates the active and almost rebellious voice she takes on as an artist but emphasizes the beauty in chaos, in sentiment and in depicting the feeling of feelings.

'Courage' In Timi Kakandar's 'Strength Of A Woman'

BY

Morade Oduntan

From the hair to the bold strokes of colour on her face, this piece is nothing short of captivating. The sky-blue background strikingly contrasts with her dark hair in a style similar to African threading, used to stretch and protect the hair.  This divergence brings out the complexity and details of it, causing it to be one of the most prominent features and immediately catching the viewer’s eye. 

'Loss' in Tetsuya Ishida's Art

BY

Sasha Semark-Masters

Born in 1973, Ishida’s work captures Japan’s ‘lost decade’ of the 1990s, which was a time of economic recession. From his early career until his death in 2005, Ishida portrayed vivid imagery of the challenges to Japanese life and morale in his paintings and graphic works.

Xu Bing and Language

BY

Megan Lee

Xu Bing (徐冰) is a Chinese artist known for his printmaking skills and installation art, as well as his creative artistic use of language, words, and text and how they have affected our understanding of the world. Xu Bing's art mostly reflects cultural issues which raged during his early life in China. Most notably, the cultural and linguistic reforms enacted by the Communist Party in China under Mao Zedong's leadership.

'Egregore' In Almagul Menlibayeva's Photography

BY

Priyasha Brahma

Almagul Menlibayeva's photography and video work address acute issues of central Asian modernity, casting a critical and contemporary eye on post-Soviet social and political transformation while reviewing the role of women, mythology and culture. She describes her work as exploring the 'egregore' (a shared feeling or sentiment that arises from the thoughts of a culture) of Central Asian identity and revitalising it into 'an active entity, just like a creature itself'. 

'Liberation' in Baya 
Mahieddine's Art

BY

Selen Soyer

The Algerian artist, Baya Mahieddine notably inspired Picasso’s Femme d’Alger series through her graceful paintings of communal Algerian women. As an orphan, art provided Baya with a vibrant mechanism to cope with her difficult upbringing and express her intersectional identity.

‘Herstory’ of Art

BY

Nadia Sun

Throughout history, women have been deprived of rights, respect, and recognition. This is no exception in the art world. For Women’s History Month and the topic of Women’s Voices, I present an unsung artist to hopefully shed some light on her story and magnify her artistic voice.