i4A Centre for Contemporary Asian ArtHaymarket
Andy Ewing: Ancestor Spirits / Kirthana Selvaraj: In the Half Light
A posthumous survey of queer Vietnamese-Australian artist Andy Ewing (1964-2021) paired with new commissions by inaugural Andy Ewing Fellow Kirthana Selvaraj, on inheritance, queerness and the body.
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In 1997 a billboard went up in Taylor Square challenging the way gay culture exoticised Asian men. Council workers took it down two days later. That work, Reinscribing Skin, made by Andy Ewing with Eugene Hoh, returns here with its archival documentation.
This is the first posthumous survey of Ewing (1964-2021), a queer Vietnamese-Australian artist who worked mostly on paper. It runs from his early illustrations for the Sydney Star Observer on HIV/AIDS stigma, through unframed drawings made during chronic pain, to dense late compositions. In his sketchbooks you can watch collected phrases and rough drawings turn into finished works, and his sisters have offered a Vietnamese-style shrine in his memory.
Alongside it, Kirthana Selvaraj, the first Andy Ewing Fellow, shows new paintings made after a year with his archive, her triptych set beside one of his last works. It suits anyone curious about queer Sydney history and Asian-Australian art. Entry is free, Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 5pm, on Hay Street in Haymarket.
Look for
Reinscribing Skin (1997)
Look for the billboard Ewing made with Eugene Hoh for Taylor Square, challenging how gay culture exoticised Asian men; council workers removed it after two days, and it is shown here with the archival record.
Chronic Manageable Conditions (2015-16)
Look for raw, diary-like drawings made while Ewing was in chronic pain, hung without frames, which he called "a form of thinking out loud".
The family shrine
Look for the Vietnamese-style shrine offered by Ewing's sisters, Margy and Therese, which honours him through a family practice of remembrance from his mother's side.
In the Half Light beside Where Memories Are Stored
Look for Selvaraj's 2026 triptych, its figures and landscapes built up from paint applied, scraped back and reworked, hung in direct conversation with one of Ewing's final completed works.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Locals Who've Seen It All
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You want finished, framed pictures: much of it is sketches, archive material and unframed drawings.
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
8
- Andy Ewing: Ancestor Spirits / Kirthana Selvaraj: In the Half Light© The Estate of Andrew Ewing
- 2026 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearImage: Lewis Burnett © Lewis Burnett (Conditional use only for AGNPY)
- Portia Geach Memorial Award 2026Courtesy of S.H. Ervin Gallery
- 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian ArtChris Olszewski (Kgbo), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- White Rabbit GallerySmart Design Studio / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Australian Museumwuppertaler / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
- National Art School GallerySardaka / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
- Hyde Park BarracksJ Bar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0