Xenophoria is a new single channel video. As opposed to the more well-known term ‘xenophobia', Xenophoria refers to a love of the foreign and is inspired by the name of a mysterious species of aquatic carrier shell, Xenophora pallidae. This shell calcifies objects in the seabed to its spine, liberally incorporating foreign bodies into its own structure. Likewise, Xenophoria stages a delirious search for the melanin pigment -- the molecule responsible for skin color -- as it manifests variously in both anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic bodies. Referencing the aesthetics of both microscopic imagery and ASMR videos, the work depicts such actions as dissecting squids and bursting their ink sacs, tracing the discolored tumours within Lam Qua's medical paintings, harvesting funghi, and locating bodily moles, in an absurdist investigation of the substance of racial othering.

Jes Fan
Jes Fan is a Brooklyn-based artist born in Canada and raised in Hong Kong. He is the recipient of various fellowships such as the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant, Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, Van Lier Fellowship at Museum of Arts and Design and John A. Chironna Memorial Award at RISD. Fan has exhibited internationally; selected exhibitions include Kiss My Genders at Hayward Gallery (London/UK), Mother is a Woman at Empty Gallery (Hong Kong/CN), An Opera for Animals at Rockbund Museum (Shanghai/CN), In Search of Miss Ruthless, Para Site (Hong Kong/CN), Paradox: Haptic Body in the Age of AI at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh/US), Disposed to Add at Vox Populi Gallery (Philadelphia/US). Fan has also participated in numerous artist residencies such as Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Recess Art, Smack Mellon and Pioneer Works. In 2020, Fan participated in the Biennale of Sydney and the Liverpool Biennale.

Date: 24.6 — 1.11.2020