Cover Patrick Ng Kah Onn, a queer artist of Malaysian heritage depicted LGBTQ+ issues in a subtle manner as seen in ‘Self-Portrait with Friends’ (1962) (Photo: courtesy of Tai Kwun Contemporary)
Patrick Ng Kah Onn, a queer artist of Malaysian heritage depicted LGBTQ+ issues in a subtle manner as seen in ‘Self-Portrait with Friends’ (1962) (Photo: courtesy of Tai Kwun Contemporary)
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To celebrate Pride month, we bring to you five Asian queer artists, from Bhuppen Kakkar to Alfonso Ossorio, who bravely depicted LGBTQ+ themes when such topics were still taboo in art and charted the way for younger artists
The portrayal of queer narratives and experiences in contemporary art, while increasingly more common and visible in the recent past, has existed throughout art history. In Asia in particular, the concepts of homosexuality and gender fluidity have been afoot since ancient times, they have been present in mythology and its artistic depiction.
So to celebrate Pride month, we shed light on five pioneering queer artists, from Bhupen Khakhar to Alfonso Ossorio, who showcased LGBTQ+ themes in their work in the 20th century and paved the way for many contemporary artists.
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Bhupen Khakhar (1934-2003)
Best known for his figurative paintings, Bhupen Khakhar depicts scenes from everyday life in his distinctive stylised aesthetics. The accountant-turned-artist was a part of India’s Baroda School of Art movement, which cropped up in the 1950s to provide an alternative to traditional art movements. Khakhar was the only openly queer artist who addressed homosexuality through his work at that time.
His interest lay in familiarity: he wished to reflect on things surrounding him and his own experiences, including his sexuality. Homoerotic themes became more visible and prominent in his work in the 1980s and his 1981 painting, You Can’t Please All is widely considered the artist’s official “coming out”. Out of many of the gay couples and men he featured in his works, often a character would resemble the artist himself, as evident in Two Men in Benares (1985).
Given the social stigma surrounding homosexuality and queerness at the time, Khakhar’s vulnerable, gentle portrayals were significant forms of representation of a community still invisible in mainstream media at that time.
Alfonso Ossorio (1916-1990)
Filipino American artist Alfonso Ossorio’s expressive abstract canvases are as fascinating as his life story—and there’s been a growing interest in both in recent times.
Born into a wealthy family in the Philippines, which owned sugar plantations, Ossorio took a shine to arts and went to America to study the subject. He was in the States in the 1940s and 1950s, during a time when modern art was being shaped by some of history’s greatest modern artists such as Jackson Pollock and Jean Dubuffet. Ossorio happened to be great friends with them and not only collected their works but also drew inspiration from them. In particular, Ossorio adapted Pollock’s drip technique (pouring paint straight from a can onto a canvas) in his work.
Ossorio also created his own aesthetic by reflecting on themes of religion, colonialism, feudalism (in his native Philippines) and fusing them with queer and Catholic motifs to create works which represented voices that had little to no visibility at the time.
Patrick Ng Kah Onn (1932-1989)
Born in Kuala Lumpur, Patrick Ng Kah Onn was a pioneering modern Malayan painter, who was part of the Wednesday Art Group founded in Kuala Lumpur in 1956 by Peter Harris. The group consisted of artists who shaped the country’s modern art movement. Ng went on abroad to pursue his art education in the UK where he honed his unique aesthetic.
Ng’s portrayal of queer narratives was more subtle and loaded with other political and identity-related allusions. In a 1958 self-portrait, for instance, Ng paints himself (a Chinese male) as a Malay woman. His work was one of the few early examples that questioned identity and challenged perceptions of it; not only from the perspective of gender but also from the point of view of ethnicity and nationality—a significant projection during a time when Malaysia was forging its own identity as a newly independent nation. In the 1960s the queer artist began to work with Batik (consisting of the traditional Javanese wax-resistant dyeing technique) to create paintings depicting nude men in various scenarios, comprising more obvious queer allusions.
Sadao Hasegawa (1945 - 1999)
Japanese graphic artist Sadao Hasegawa was best known for his homoerotic illustrations that were often considered fetishistic. His highly stylised and pop-like aesthetic reflected a slew of cultural influences ranging from Thai, Balinese, Japanese, and Indian to Tibetan Buddhist. He unapologetically brought queer desires and fantasies to the fore, his paintings featuring the male body prominently, alongside strong sexual themes alluding to bondage and sadomasochism.
After teaching himself how to draw in his 20s while travelling to India, Hasegawa began working as an illustrator for gay Japanese magazines. His first solo exhibition was in Tokyo in 1973 and featured paintings, sculptures, collages and illustrations inspired by Tokyo’s nightlife and the 1950s post-war Japanese culture. At its core, Hasegawa’s work explored Asian masculinity through a queer artistic lens in an attempt to reframe and reimagine the idea of manhood.
Martin Wong (1946 - 1999)
Martin Wong was an openly queer artist of Chinese American heritage, whose prolific body of work has earned a cult following in the art world, and has been collected by the likes of KAWS.
Wong portrayed everyday scenes, often from the neighbourhood he lived in (the artist moved from California to New York in the late 1970s), featuring people hanging out in stairwells, graffiti artists at work, ex-convicts against the backdrop of urban spaces and local architecture. He also consistently addressed themes of ethnicity and identity, portraying Black and Latin characters.
Outfitted with cowboy boots and a long moustache, Wong was an openly gay Asian American artist whose persona and art challenged the idea of traditional masculinity. Like many queer and Asian American stories, Wong’s also went relatively unnoticed. It’s only recently that his life and practice have gained visibility, particularly through exhibitions such as a 2015 retrospective at the Bronx Museum, as well as recent exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Camden Arts Centre in London and KW Institute of Contemporary Arts in Berlin.
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Aaina was the Arts and Culture Editor of Tatler Asia. A passion for history and all things visual led her in the pursuit of art history. With extensive experience in the art world working for a range of art institutions, she combined her passion and expertise in the form of art and culture journalism. Prior to Tatler, Aaina worked as a culture reporter for South China Morning Post and editor at the online art platform Cobo Social. Additionally, she has contributed to a variety of prestigious art publications including Art Review, The Art Newspaper, Ocula, Art Agenda, Artsy, Design Anthology, and Artomity. Follow her on Instagram.
