Art Beatus opens 'Beautiful Beast' Print Works by Wuon-Gean Ho

Vancouver, BC - Art Beatus (Vancouver) Consultancy Ltd. presents the print works of Wuon-Gean Ho in a solo exhibition titled, “Beautiful Beast”.  The exhibition will open with an afternoon reception open to the public on Friday, July 11 from 3pm to 6pm, and the artist, visiting from London, England, will be in attendance.  Four series of works will be featured, all sharing recurrent themes of life, death, love, the attractive and repulsive through animal, human and otherworldly subjects. 

While Ho has had many exhibitions in the UK, USA and Japan, this will be her debut exhibition in Canada.  “Beautiful Beast” begins Friday, July 11, 2008 and runs through to Friday, September 5, 2008.

Life, death, memories and nostalgia are common themes in Wuon-Gean Ho’s work.  As a veterinarian, the artist witnesses death on a daily basis and is moved to reflect her response to these experiences through her art.  There is a deliberate ambiguity in many of Ho’s works – interactions between human and animal subjects sometimes portray the animals in sleep-like poses, but there is also a sense that the animal may have gently passed on, “I am fascinated by how sleep and death may be confused with each other, particularly in a 2 dimensional image, which lacks the aspects of time and sound”.  Ho leaves it open to interpretation for the viewer, much in the way she does with her latest series of works, “Masks Unmasked”. 

Hand printed in her East London studio, the prints in the “Masks Unmasked” series explore the notion that there is more to the surface appearance of humans than meets the eye.  Masked faces appear disturbing and haunting, yet mesmerizing and beautiful.  Powerful gestural marks and sharp incised lines dominate the faces, while hidden in the depths and layers of imagery are beasts, monsters, angels and lovers struggling within.  “As we walk through life, we accumulate memories: ghosts; attachments and connections; nostalgia for the past and expectations for the future.  The work focuses on the expression of inner emotions and true histories, and shows faces that are essentially stripped of the mask of social pretences”. 

Print works by Wuon-Gean Ho in the “Beautiful Beast” exhibition will include the “Masks Unmasked” series as well as her “Spirit” series whose subject is a female figure closely linked to the animal form with a protective and nurturing role; “Puppy Play”, showing how dogs play-fight in a realistic and terrifying way, yet also appear absurdly unnatural; and “China Love”, an imaginary love story between a man and a supernatural woman.

Born in 1973 in Oxford, UK to Malaysian and Singaporean parents, Wuon-Gean Ho graduated with a BA in History of Art, and a professional license as a veterinary surgeon from Cambridge University before taking up a Japanese Government Scholarship in 1998 to study woodblock printmaking in Japan.  In between residencies in the US and Japan, she bases herself in London, working part time as a vet, and creating art and handmade artist books the rest of the time.

Art Beatus Gallery was founded in Hong Kong in 1992.With an addition of a second gallery in Vancouver, Canada, in 1996, Art Beatus, the first gallery of its kind operating simultaneously on both sides of the Pacific.

Art Beatus represents and promotes International modern and contemporary art with a unique focus on contemporary Chinese art. Traditional Chinese art has a profound history that is widely recognized throughout the world; the last one hundred years saw many significant developments in contemporary Chinese art which are no less significant.

Art Beatus, with a location in Vancouver, Canada and two locations in Hong Kong, showcases international art with a focus on contemporary Chinese art.  Art Beatus (Vancouver) is located in the Nelson Square Office Tower at 108 – 808 Nelson Street.  For more information, please contact :

Art Beatus (Vancouver) Consultancy Ltd.
108 - 808 Nelson Street, Vancouver, BC  V6Z 2H2  Canada
Tel:  604/688.2633  Fax:  604/688.2685  Email: info-at-artbeatus.com www.artbeatus.com