The mixed media work "Salvador Toxie" featured here is one from a series of ink-based drawing by Ottawa based artist Howie Tsui. It was selected from his exhibition "Of Manga And Mongrels" in G+ GALLERIES during February 2007. Through a stylized contemporary graphic and comic book design, Howie Tsui refashions Katsushika Hokusai's manga illustration to create allegorical compositions to address assimilation and identity. With cut and paste, and photocopies of Hokusai figures on Mylar, Tsui draws and paints on the collage thus creating new portraits that appear grotesque and hybrid in nature.
Howie Tsui was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. In 1983, his family immigrated to Thunder Bay, Ontario, where he began his assimilation into western culture through street hockey and heavy metal music. Tsui's 'suspended adolescent' artistic approach is informed by such experiences. His persisting interest in manga has inspired him to produce work that involves the mongrelization of East/West cultures, high and low art with the wildest imagination possible.
More information about the artist:
Howie Tsui received a BFA and Cultural Management Co-op degree from the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, 2002. Solo exhibitions include: Gallery 101, Ottawa, 2007, G+ GALLERIES, Toronto, 2007, Toothless Chandelier, San Francisco, 2007 and Wurm Gallery, Ottawa, 2004. Selected group exhibitions include, 2006: I Am 8-Bit, Gallery 1988, Los Angeles; Fresh Start, Arena 1 Gallery, Santa Monica; Paper Pushers, Gallery 1988, Los Angeles. 2005: Enjoy Relax Happy, Niagara Gallery, Toronto; My Culture Includes My Scene, The Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa; Then and Now, Gene Siskel Film Center of the Chicago Institute of Art, Chicago; Sketchel, Sydney Exhibition Centre, Sydney; Fresh Produce 05, Gallery Anno Domini, San Jose. 2004: Disorganised Art, Artguise, Ottawa. 2003: Scatalogue: 30 Years of Crap in Contemporary Art, SAW Gallery, Ottawa. Tsui was awarded The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition Best Painting Award, and The Canada Council for the Arts Joseph S. Stauffer Prize. Parallel to his visual art practice, Tsui is a member of the experimental folk-pop band, The Acorn.
