Twice a finalist in the Archibald Prize and this year’s winner of the 2015 Sir John Sulman prize, you might forgive Jason Phu for dabbling in a little high art bragging. But, with his latest solo show at the Ray Hughes Gallery titled Everything is Google translated or taken from Chinese newspapers I can’t read, this doesn’t seem likely.
Born in Australia to Chinese and Vietnamese parents, Phu’s work cheekily plays with juxtapositions of traditional Chinese art and Australian suburban culture. Delicately scrawled on traditionally mounted rice paper Phu delivers deadpan observations about his encounters with household insects in Chinese script. A characteristically Aussie flare for understatement and self-deprecation comes fairly naturally to Phu and most certainly doesn’t escape his work. It's cheerful and inviting as he pokes fun of himself as much as the cultures that inform him.
Phu has recently opened his own studio in Chongqing, China, where he is undertaking formal training in Chinese painting and calligraphy. His current exhibition consist both of works created in China and here in Australia and is made up of four mini series: Really Annoying Animals, Little Fish and Some Crabs, a ceramic bowl series, and six paintings done in his Chongqing studio.
While Phu is characteristically offhand when discussing his practice — “My work is about things I see, like a bird pooping on a man’s head,” — the delicate composition of his pieces make for works that mix humour with poignancy.
this bee is floating around aimlessly
because it's a nice day
or maybe it's dying