Ho Tam: Cover to Cover

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Ho Tam, "Cover to Cover," 2019

OPENING RECEPTION + ARTIST TOUR: Thursday 6 June, 5PM-8PM

GHOST IMAGE: A Close Reading of the Work of Ho Tam by Kegan McFadden: Thursday 27 June, 7:30PM

The Victoria Arts Council is excited to present a new iteration of this touring survey of work by contemporary artist, and former Victoria-resident, Ho Tam. Cover to Cover offers a selection of photo, video, artist books, and magazines spanning this artist's career. The exhibition deconstructs Tam's recent book works displaying selected pages and images on the gallery walls connecting with earlier works and installed organically so the images exists as a free flowing collage. His long time investigation into place, memory, queerness, and the body is shown through works that blend together to create a larger installation engaging the breadth of Tam’s artistic production.Special to this version of Cover to Cover is a selection of work produced by Ho Tam during his residency with the Canadian Forces Artists Program (CFAP), an opportunity that allowed him to travel on a Navy ship for ten days, from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to Esquimalt, BC.

Ghost Image

Kegan McFadden, VAC executive director, will respond to Tam’s photo series, Ghost Image, through which the artist collects photographs and documents of his lover Kirby who died of an AIDS-related illness in the mid-90s. McFadden will talk about stories, influences, and how these two fleeting things can be made material. He states:

Ho titled the project after his favourite author, Hervé Guibert, another artist who died in 1991 from AIDS-related causes. I plan to read an excerpt from the Guibert book as well as analyze Ho’s approach to dealing with the material left after Kirby’s death.

This hybrid talk/lecture/reading will take place in the VAC Store Street gallery so the audience can view the series while listening to the research/response.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Ho Tam was born in Hong Kong, educated in Canada and the U.S. and worked in advertising companies and community psychiatric facilities before turning to art. He practices in multiple disciplines including photography, video, painting and print media. His first video, The Yellow Pages, was commissioned by the public art group PUBLIC ACCESS for an installation/projection at the Union Station of Toronto in 1994/95. Since then Tam has produced over 15 experimental videos. He was included in the traveling exhibition Magnetic North: Canadian Experimental Video by Walker Art Center, Minnesota. His feature documentary film Books of James was awarded Outstanding Artistic Achievement (Outfest, LA) and Best Feature Documentary (Tel Aviv LGBT Film Festival). He also publishes several series of artist’s books and zines. Tam is an alumni of Whitney Museum Independent Studies Program, Bard College (MFA) and recipients of various fellowships and artist’s grants.