Cover A still from Sin’s ‘It’s Alway’s You’ (2021) which explores issues related to the LGBTQ+ experience (Photo: courtesy of Blindspot Gallery)
A still from Sin’s ‘It’s Alway’s You’ (2021) which explores issues related to the LGBTQ+ experience (Photo: courtesy of Blindspot Gallery)
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From Salman Toor to Sin Wai Kin, here are nine artists of Asian descent who have channelled their queer, LGBTQ+ and gender-fluid experiences into riveting creations
Art has always been a powerful medium for shedding light on diverse perspectives. However, art and artists representing different perspectives have unfortunately also been dismissed as being too marginal or insignificant to be mainstream in the past. Now, thankfully, the cultural climate has evolved and there is growing interest in these “marginal and insignificant” stories and experiences, as well as a demand to put them in the forefront so that history will not forget them. And, increasingly, many such artworks showcase a queer Asian experience.
Before Pride month wraps up for 2024, here are nine Asian artists you should know who intertwine LGBTQ+ and/or gender-fluid narratives through their art to shed light on lesser-known perspectives and stories.
Read more: From a city in the sky to a letter from the future: Hong Kong of tomorrow as imagined by artists
1. Kary Kwok
Above Kary Kwok’s self-portrait from the “Phantasmagoria” exhibition (Photo: courtesy of Kary Kwok)
Kary Kwok’s self-portrait from the “Phantasmagoria” exhibition (Photo: courtesy of Kary Kwok)
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Artist Kary Kwok worked as a photographer in London and Hong Kong during the 1980s and 1990s. While in London, he captured queer culture of the underground nightlife scene, and in Hong Kong he had served as the fashion director of the now-closed fashion magazine Amoeba in 1997 and 1998, where he became known for instilling queer aesthetics into the publication.
Kwok’s first solo exhibition, Phantasmagoria, was on display at Square Street Gallery in Sheung Wan last June, and it showcased a series of black-and-white self-portraits from 1993. This series was inspired by the mystical erotic drawing The Hermaphrodite-Angel of Peladan (1950s) by American artist Raymond Carrance (1921-88), who challenged gender norms by highlighting androgyny in his art. His work is on view at Square Street Gallery again, for a group exhibition, Harlow’s Monkey.
2. Salman Toor
Above Salman Toor’s “Boys with Pink Bedsheets and Sock” (2021) (Photo: Luhring Augustine)
Salman Toor’s “Boys with Pink Bedsheets and Sock” (2021) (Photo: Luhring Augustine)
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Pakistan-born, New York-based artist Salman Toor is widely acclaimed as one of the most sought-after figurative painters to emerge in the past few years, and his luscious oil paintings are snapped up at record prices from auction houses like Sotheby’s. His art showcases fictional queer, young men of South Asian descent in familiar settings such as bars and bedrooms. Through deliberately depicting these characters in relatable situations, Toor seeks to evoke a feeling of empathy towards the LGBTQ+ diasporic experience.
3. Sin Wai Kin
Above Sin Wai Kin in character as The Universe in “The Dream of Wholeness in Parts” (2021) (Photo: courtesy of Blindspot Gallery)
Sin Wai Kin in character as The Universe in “The Dream of Wholeness in Parts” (2021) (Photo: courtesy of Blindspot Gallery)
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Born to a Chinese father and a British mother, drag queen and artist Sin Wai Kin grew up in Canada and now lives in London. They have long been accustomed to navigating the ambiguous nature of diasporic and mixed-race identity, and subsequently has been fascinated with the fluidity of identities. They explore this concept through creating narrative-driven films in which they act in and assume the role of one or multiple characters by dressing up in drag. Sin believes that with drag, an individual can assume as many identities as they want. They recently became the first non-binary individual artist to be nominated for the prestigious Turner Art Prize, and also won The Baloise Art Prize at Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland this June.
In case you missed it: Meet Sin Wai Kin: the first individual non-binary artist nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize
4. Chitra Ganesh
Above Chitra Ganesh’s works displayed at “Myth Makers—Spectrosynthesis III” exhibition in 2023 (Photo: courtesy of Tai Kwun)
Chitra Ganesh’s works displayed at “Myth Makers—Spectrosynthesis III” exhibition in 2023 (Photo: courtesy of Tai Kwun)
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Chitra Ganesh, a Brooklyn-based artist of South Asian descent, explores mythologies, LGBTQ+ issues, gender and sexuality politics through drawings, mixed-media art, installations and comic strips. She is best known for her reinterpretation of Amar Chitra Katha—a popular Indian comic book based on religious legends—which Ganesh reinterprets through a feminist and queer lens. She also takes inspiration from Bollywood film posters and pop culture references to create bold, uninhibited, striking visuals. Earlier this year, her work was displayed in Hong Kong as part of the Myth Makers—Spectrosynthesis III exhibition at Tai Kwun.
5. Anne Samat
Above Anne Samat’s “To Heaven” (2022) at Tai Kwun (Photo: courtesy of Tai Kwun)
Anne Samat’s “To Heaven” (2022) at Tai Kwun (Photo: courtesy of Tai Kwun)
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Also at the Myth Makers—Spectrosynthesis III exhibition at Tai Kwun was Malaysian contemporary artist Anne Samat’s captivating installation, To Heaven (2022). Samat creates large-scale totem-like objects—by weaving together everyday items such as fabrics, yarns, beads and more—using traditional Malaysian weaving techniques. Colourful and endowed with intricate details, these installations bring to mind images of androgynous deities whose identities don’t conform to gender binaries.
6. Xiyadie
Above Xiyadie’s “Train” (1986) (Photo: courtesy of the artist and Blindspot Gallery)
Xiyadie’s “Train” (1986) (Photo: courtesy of the artist and Blindspot Gallery)
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Self-taught traditional Chinese paper-cut artist Xiyadie’s work emerged on the contemporary art circuit in 2016 and has been gaining visibility ever since. This March, he opened his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong at Blindspot Gallery, titled Butterfly Dreams. His work is also on view at the main exhibition of the 60th Venice Biennale, Foreigners Everywhere, curated by Adriano Pedrosa.
The themes and content Xiyadie’s works are centred around his experience coming out as a queer person in rural China, in addition to the struggles of migrant workers in big cities. His work often depicts imagined scenes reflecting fantasies he wasn’t able to explore in his real life due to his closeted sexuality. Xiyadie’s pseudonym means “Siberian Butterfly”—which is a symbol of resilience and beauty, reflecting the artist’s persistence in his pursuit of freedom.
7. Joshua Serafin
Filipino artist Joshua Serafin’s primarily performance-based artistic practice focuses on unpacking the Filipino identity in the context of global ideologies. They do this by excavating histories, traditions and mythologies, staged through the lens of queer experiences and expressions.
Serafin has performed globally, and their work was most recently seen at the 60th Venice Biennale, which opened in April 2024. VOID (2022), which is on view in Italy, is a film in which the protagonist is a non-binary god figure creating and imagining a new world through movement and expression. It draws from creational myths of the Philippines archipelago and envisions a gender-diverse future determined by non-binary species.
8. Virtue Village
Above Virtue Village's “Rush” (2022) (Image: courtesy of the artist and PHD Group)
Virtue Village's “Rush” (2022) (Image: courtesy of the artist and PHD Group)
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Virtue Village is a local artist collective consisting of Joseph Chen and Cas Wong; the name is a translation of the name of Chen’s grandmother’s housing estate, which he used to visit frequently as a child. Their conceptually driven practice explores religion, spirituality and queer identity using popular cultural imagery, particularly those common in Hong Kong. This is evident in works like Talisman for Radical Monogamy (2022), an enormous, chrome, heart-shaped locket, inside which is—in the artists’ own words—a “Chinese anime” painting depicting both of them in a style frequently seen in online game advertisements on the MTR.
The work references LGBTQ+ culture and BDSM, with the artists depicted wearing horse bits around their mouths. It also alludes to their own romantic relationship, with one shown stabbing the other in the chest. Their 2022 solo exhibition Village Porn at PHD gallery also built upon these themes and imagery. The duo also participated in the Mythmakers exhibition organised by Sunpride Foundation and Tai Kwun Contemporary in 2023.
9. Fuyuhiko Takata
Above Fuyuhiko Takata’s “Cut Suits” (2023) (Photo: courtesy of Fuyuhiko Takata and Waitingroom gallery)
Fuyuhiko Takata’s “Cut Suits” (2023) (Photo: courtesy of Fuyuhiko Takata and Waitingroom gallery)
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Takata was a breakout star at this year’s Art Basel Hong Kong. His installation at Waitingroom gallery’s booth caught the eye of many a collector, curator and visitor. He often tackles the idea of masculinity in his work by referencing iconic, historical art—and then putting his own spin on it. For instance, his work Cut Suits (2023), which was shown at the fair, draws from Yoko Ono’s classic 1964 feminist work Cut Piece, and ironically features six businessmen snipping away at each other’s suits. He also probes the idea of toxic and rigid masculine standards in The Butterfly Dream (2022). Takata is inspired by The Dream of a Butterfly, a famous story from the Chinese classic text Zhuangzi, in which the protagonist dreams he is a butterfly, leading him to question his reality. In his version, Takata creates a scene in which a mythical hybrid butterfly-chimera creature snips away at a sleeping young man’s clothing.
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.
