Howie Tsui: From swelling shadows, we draw our bows
On view from 26 September 2020–3 January 2021
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, at Harbourfront Centre
Toronto, Ontario
www.thepowerplant.org
The Power Plant is thrilled to present three exhibitions that each explore individual and collective histories to consider the political dynamics of place- and identity-making.
For his first institutional solo show in Toronto, Vancouver-based artist Howie Tsui presents a series of works that examine the complexities of the Chinese diasporic experience. Growing up between Hong Kong, Lagos, and Thunder Bay, Tsui has described his childhood and adolescence as existing on the threshold of Chinese and Colonial culture. His artworks reflect this duality, blending classical and contemporary Chinese art, particularly wuxia—a popular form of martial arts literature that emerged in China during the mid-20th century, and which advocates for resistance and dissidence—with Western popular culture.
Image: Howie Tsui, Kowloon Walled City, 2017. Epson Ultrachrome pigmented ink on Epson Coldpress Rag paper. 91.44 × 121.92 cm. Courtesy the artist and Patel Brown Gallery.
