From the Streets of Our Unfair City: Artists Who Have Experienced Homelessness

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An Dong, 2024

(courtesy of the Gallery)

Opening Reception: January 4 from 2-4pm. Free & open to the public.

Outsiders and Others is pleased to present this group exhibition featuring artists that have experienced homelessness. We use the word “homeless” and not “unhoused” because it is how these artists identify.

The goal of this exhibition is to bring awareness to the unseen talent that exists in that community and we are excited to share it with you.

This exhibition features three artists. An Dong, Randy Pandora, and Brett Zü.

An Dong is a multimedia artist specializing in pencil, acrylic paint, clay, and interior design. He was born in Qing Dao, China where he studied fine art and worked as a carpet designer for over ten years before transitioning to interior design. He emigrated to Canada in 2006 and became a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists. Much of his work focuses on portraiture, landscapes, and Chinese and Indigenous historical themes.

Randy Pandora was born Randy Charles Conroy in Toronto. His dad was a professional wrestler who went by several names, including Killer Kane Conroy and the Masked Marvel.

He’s one of 11 kids, and was placed in a foster home when he was young. He ran away at 14 and became a performer in a drag bar in Montreal, adapting the stage name Pandora after a box his mother gave him.

Pandora came to Vancouver in 1976 and a year later became a singer in the Generators, one of Vancouver’s first punk/new wave bands.

Brett Zü spent his childhood moving around the Fraser Valley’s bible belt and Vancouver Island. Despite a home which did not nurture art, Brett’s uncle introduced a doodle game which stimulated their creative eye, imagination, and continues to play a big part in Brett’s projects. Art teachers at high school in Chilliwack were also a huge inspiration. Brett became a working family man for three decades, only deciding to become a full time artist in 2021. He adapted the German spelling of the last name Zü because it looked like a ‘happy face,’ and playfully refers to art installations around the city as ‘Zü art.’