A solo exhibition by Associate Professor of Photography Tristan Cai opens this month at Towson University’s Asian Arts Gallery, Center for the Arts in Towson, Md.
The exhibition, “The Aesthetics of Disappearance,” consists of a series of digitally manipulated photographs from colonial Singapore, historic newspaper clippings and documents. Cai’s haunting images draw attention to the forgotten history of houseboys and their British colonial masters in Singapore from the 1850s to the 1930s. Houseboys were the predominant group of indentured domestic servants in colonial Darwin, Hong Kong and Singapore. Works in the exhibition question how history is constructed and narrated by those in power through the lens of houseboys and their relationships with their masters.
The exhibition runs from Feb. 8 through May 26 with a reception and artist talk Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. The gallery is located at 1 Fine Arts Drive in Towson and is open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery will be closed the week of March 19.
