Unit Bruises: Theodore Wan & Paul Wong, 1975 – 1979

Opening Reception, Artist Talk & Tour:
Saturday, April 20, 2 – 4 pm

Unit Bruises brings together the works of two Chinese Canadian conceptual artists active during the 1970s: Theodore Sasketche Wan (b. 1953; d. 1987) and Paul Wong (b. 1954). By mobilizing their respective bodies and the visual languages of medical and procedural illustrations, both artists subverted the notions of objectivity that have been naturalized through such hegemonic imagery. Through these intensely physical works, the two artists respectively asserted their othered subject positions as people of colour and ruminated on the topics of illness, death, and the human condition.

The show is named after Wong and Kenneth Fletcher’s 60 Unit; Bruise (1976), a video work that documents the “ritualized” withdrawal of Fletcher’s blood into Wong’s body via a syringe. The disturbingly procedural, abject tone of 60 Unit; Bruise is echoed in a selection of Wan’s work in which the artist performed as a patient in a series of medical-style photographs. During his studies at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Wan created a series of photographs that served both as instructional surgical illustrations and as photo-conceptualist interventions.

The exhibition includes rarely seen works by both Wan and Wong that continue to resonate in today’s sociopolitical climate, particularly given the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes.

This exhibition is made with the support from the Audain Endowment for Curatorial Studies through the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory in collaboration with the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at the University Of British Columbia.

Please note this exhibition is wheelchair accessible with ramp entry and automatic sliding doors by sensor. Service animals are welcome.

This exhibition contains work that may not be suitable for some viewers.