Canadian artist Ho Tam is featuring his installation — Cover to Cover at the Richmond Art Gallery from April 6 to May 27. The exhibit represents photography, paintings and collages from Tam’s books.
Beyond the exhibition, Tam also has art installations at Lansdowne and Waterfront SkyTrain stations currently.
Tam has been making artistic book since 1993, and the Cover to Cover exhibition encompasses content from his books. But, instead of showing the books, he deconstructed them as photos to exhibit in the gallery.
“Tam’s work connects to the everyday life in an interesting way and there is a humour to his work,” Said Shaun Dacey, director at the Richmond Art Gallery.
One of Tam’s art series, Poser, is a part of this exhibition and it has different themes such as men with stuffed animals, people wearing blue and seniors in Montreal.
“On different locations, I always pick a subject,” Tam told Richmond News. “I always decide the theme on the spot. For example, in Bangkok I chose monks because they are everywhere.”
Right now, he is focusing on his newest project called The Greatest Stories Ever Told, which is a book of collages from bank notes with poetic messages he wrote.
“I collected these images for about two years before I make the books,” Tam said. “Then I realized that images alone are not enough to tell the story. I thought they need another layer, so I started to write the story afterward.”
The Greatest Stories Ever Told is in three languages English, Mandarin and Cantonese and it is available at the gallery during the exhibition.
For more information about Ho Tam’s book, visit his website at Hotampress.com
