Beacons of the Archipelago

Squish your eyes closed and think of Asian Art. See sprawling cherry blossoms, landscapes of mountains, waves crashing. Maybe carvings, calligraphy or paintings of pearl-faced geishas. Nothing newish or self-reflective.

But young Asian artists are as interested in calligraphy as young Canadians are joining the Group of Seven. They have their own post-everything notions. To show this is the aim of Beacons of Archipelago, a recent show by Arario. As the show-notes go: Asian art is tired of being the West’s “other.”

So it conforms and squeezes into or pushes out of trends: street art (Eko Nugroho) neon lights (Leslie De Chavez) and Bollywood pop culture (Navin Rawanchaikul). Each artist’s group of works has own thought; a greater political location is the only overarching story.

Best is Donna Ong’s Japanese doll project of toys sent to and from Japan and the U.S. Gifts of guilt after limits set on East Asian immigration, the photographs of later destroyed Friendship Dolls were quiet and haunting.

It’s in the gift shop I see the piece that most grabs me. A tiny doll with drag queen hair and the deformed mouth of a cigarette burnt into plastic. A penis points from her nose to mine. I’m instantly taken. Run a finger over the nameplate: Jake and Dinos Chapman.

Sigh. Always falling in love with the British.