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Throughout January and February, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art celebrates Lunar New Year 2023 with two newly commissioned projects by Asian Australian artists. Peek behind the coded curtain with Cache, the first institutional solo exhibition by Vietnamese Australian artist Rel Pham, presented at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art from 14 January – 12 February 2023. Ride along with A Pair of Marbled Cone Snails Races to Chinatown for The Special Braised Eggplant, a public artwork from Indonesian Australian artist and designer Evi O, as it winds through Sydney’s Haymarket and Inner West adorning the carriages of the light rail.
Ahead of his forthcoming major commission for Melbourne Now, Rel Pham: Cache unveils the all seeing eye behind our mundane rituals of logging on and scrolling feeds. This newly commissioned exhibition will see the artist bring his digital practice into a physical manifestation, transforming 4A’s ground floor gallery into an immersive work of art.
Composed of video and installation, Rel Pham brings to light social media and internet usage in everyday life. The artist corrupts the architecture, sacred sculptures and idols of Cao Dai temples with high-end computer parts, creating a parallel universe of online worship. Pham visualises the impact of big data bleeding out into the offline world, asking us to consider the rapid pace at which we exist in an online hall of mirrors and the private information we unknowingly share with the world.
Thinking about his ambitious installation, Rel Pham says: “My work is a response to the blurring and overlapping lines of digital, physical and personal existence. We are all living between these lines in some way. I want to explore what that feeling looks like; the world of dreams that exists behind the diodes, where signals travel at breakneck speed into a place that has the power to bend reality and time to its algorithmic will.”
Working with a refined hand and curious eye, Evi O’s colourful abstractions of our natural and urban environment will transform Sydney’s light rail into moving artworks throughout Lunar New Year. A Pair of Marbled Cone Snails Races to Chinatown for The Special Braised Eggplant celebrates Australia’s unique biodiversity and pays homage to one of Chinatown’s most iconic meals.
Drawing inspiration from her recent Holiday series, this public artwork is the artist’s largest scale work to date. Evi shares her love for nature with stylised depictions of the colours, patterns and movements of Australian animals, from bounding kangaroos to crawling sea snails. A Pair of Marbled Cone Snails Races to Chinatown for The Special Braised Eggplant gives the aquatic mollusc a relatable personality quirk: catching the light rail into Chinatown for the precinct's emblematic meal, Hóngshāo qiézi, or special braised eggplant.
Evi O says of her new public artwork: “The Urban has infiltrated Nature for so long, it's time for Nature to infiltrate the Urban. Watch out, the Snails are coming for your braised eggplant.”
Stay tuned for an announcement of our Lunar New Year Public Program, featuring artists' floor talks and live performances, children's workshops and panel discussions. Not on our mailing list? Subscribe here to get news on all things 4A.
Lunar New Year 2023 is supported by the City of Sydney Lunar New Year 2023, Festivals and Events Sponsorship Grant Program. Evi O: A Pair of Marbled Cone Snails Races to Chinatown for The Special Braised Eggplant is supported by the City of Sydney's Precinct Activation Grant.
EXHIBITION DETAILS AND LINKS
Rel Pham: Cache
Artist:
Rel Pham
14 January - 12 February 2023
4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
181-187 Hay St, Haymarket
Warrane / Sydney NSW
Hours:
Tuesday - Sunday: 11am - 5pm
Thursday: 11am - 8pm
Evi O: A Pair of Marbled Cone Snails Races to Chinatown for The Special Braised Eggplant
Artist:
Evi O
20 January - 16 February 2023
Public: Inner West and Haymarket
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By train: 4A is a 5-minute walk from Central Station. Exit at Eddy Avenue and walk across Belmore Park.
By light rail: 4A is next to Capitol Square stop or a 2-minute walk from the Haymarket and Chinatown stops on L2 and L3 lines.
By bus: 4A is located within walking distance to Pitt St near Campbell St (2-minutes walk), Hay St near Pitt St (2-minutes walk) and Pitt St near Eddy Avenue (5-minutes walk).
By car: Nearby parking is available at 
