Theodore Wan & Paul Wong | Unit Bruises

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Theodore Sasketche Wan, “Bound By Everyday Necessities II (5 of 7),” 1979

silver gelatin print on paper (courtesy of Vancouver Art Gallery)

Unit Bruises brings together the works of two Chinese-Canadian conceptual artists active during the 1970s: Theodore Saskatche Wan (b. 1953; d. 1987) and Paul Wong (b. 1954). By mobilizing their own respective bodies, and the visual languages of medical and procedural illustrations, both artists subverted 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 as well as ruminated on the topics of illness, death, and the human condition. 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.