Lines of Descent: The family in contemporary Asian art

Venue:
Queensland Art Gallery

Dates:
To January 28, 2002

Note: We have used smaller "thumbnail" images in this article. For a larger view, click on the small image.

Family ties

Family is the most elemental human experience. While there's no single "right" definition of what "family" is, we all know it when we experience it. Also, while the winds of social change (both spontaneous and enforced) push through the region, the concept of family is a particularly strong tradition in many Asian societies.

The Queensland Art Gallery has in recent years expended a lot of time and energy forging links with Asia - the most prominent example of it being the Asia Pacific Triennial of Art, which will again be held at the QAG later this year. This smaller exhibition, something of a precursor to the APT, examines how Asian artists have explored the concept of family through a remarkable variety of styles, media and themes.

Despite the intimate nature of most families, it's the larger scale works in this collection which work the best. Perhaps that's because the entrance to the exhibition hall is dominated by Nililma Sheikh's quite astonishing work, Shamiana (India, 1996). The work consists of a series of double sided canvases hung from the ceiling, each depicting a familial theme (Birth 1, Birth 2, Song etc). While the sheer size of the piece is impressive, its subtle use of colour and naïve style make it a powerful statement on the place of family in Indian society.

At the other end of the hall is an equally impressive example of Indian attitudes to family, though more modest in scope and more personal in tone. Vivian Sundaran's The Sher-Gil Archive (1995-97) is a contemplation on a family's journey, both in time and place. It's also a fine example of what installation art can achieve. The collection of clothing pieces, lightbox photos, letters, wooden boxes and no less than 54 black-and-white photographs conveys a distinctive and moving story. >>>

Another large-scale work is In Search of Faraway Places (from the 'Migrants" series) (1996) by Wong Hoy Cheong (Malaysia). The work taps into the issue of migration from Malaysia to the "faraway places" of the title. The monochrome scheme of the work belies a canvas filled with images of families in boats, some huddled, some sick, playing instruments and carrying guns and university diplomas. The boats drift on an uncertain sea to places like the US, Canada and Australia, interspersed with images of the Beatles, Dorothy Lamour, the traditional kris and scenes from Malaysia's history.

Nowhere has the impact of social engineering and monumental change been felt more strongly than in China. There are several works from China in the exhibition; but one of the most powerful is Three Comrades (from the 'Bloodline' series) (1994) by Zhang Xiaogang. The seemingly serene canvas showing three male faces is cut by red traces and shades of light on the youths' faces. They're dressed in traditional Mao suits with one wearing the red arm band of the Communist party. The young man with the arm band is also wearing glasses, and his complexion is warm compared to his pallid 'comrades', suggesting perhaps a dichotomy between the "haves" and "have nots" in Chinese society.

Zhang's piece is nicely counterpointed by another work from China, the Untitled series by the Luo brothers. The images in the series show children surrounded by hamburgers, soft drinks, batteries and other trappings of Western society; executed in a post socialist realist style.

While the large scale works exude a kind of majesty, some of the smaller works have a power of their own. An example is Mother (1998) from Natee Utarit (Thailand) in which a series of three views of the artist's mother (presumably) are arranged in a triptych. The images show the woman's face turned away from the viewer, suggesting an alienation from her, although at least one panel hints at rapprochement.

Lines of Descent is an excellently presented collection. While the scope of the exhibition is somewhat limited, it is representative of the quality of contemporary Asian art. It may have been improved by a broader range, particularly some of the exciting work coming out of Japan. But those limitations do not detract from the quality of the individual works on show or the importance of the messages they convey.

David Edwards

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