James Nguyen: Exit Strategies

Overview

Australian-Vietnamese artist James Ngyugen lived in a factory in south-west Sydney during the 1990s, working hard to assist his family save their struggling textile business. Drawing from these experiences, he will be presenting Exit Strategies at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, an exhibition tracing the hardships faced by migrants in an adopted country.

Tackling a set of issues that are perhaps more pertinent than ever, Nguyen stitches factual and autobiographical details into a fictional story. The newly commissioned four-channel video work will present the artist’s parents assuming the role of their children and re-enact scenes from the past. Through this role reversal, Nyugen hopes to communicate the sense of vulnerability plaguing migrants and refugees seeking to build new lives.

The show will feature sculptural elements alongside the video work, stimulating a broader conversation about the evolution of industry in Australia, the transformation of labour and the decline of manufacturing.