Concern raised by sudden cancellation of public artwork in Markham, Ontario, featuring a subject in drag

On Sunday September 10, 2023, Bicycle by Canadian artist Julian Yi-Zhong Hou was scheduled to premiere as the inaugural public artwork in a temporary series in Markham, Ontario. Commissioned as a joint initiative of the City of Markham’s public art program and the Art Gallery of York University, Bicycle was to be mounted on the surface of the Pan Am Centre for a five-month period.

The 120 x 37 foot vinyl digital photo collage (viewable below) is rich with visual language of the spiritual, intercultural (Chinese/western), and gender fluid. It features a mirrored image of emerging Vancouver-based artist James Albers, as both themself and their drag persona Lady Boi Bangkok.

On the day of installation (Sept 6) -- and following a year-long curatorial, creation, and production process -- project contributors (including the public art curator at the City of Markham, public curators at the Art Gallery of York University, Ontario artist duo FASTWÜRMS, Toronto artist Yam Lau, and Haus of Devereaux, a Markham-based drag house booked to perform at the Sept 10th unveiling), received notification from the City's corporate communications office that the work had been abruptly cancelled, without any reason given, and with no details on how the decision was reached. 

We believe that without a clear reason for cancellation and without an opportunity for open discussion, the City of Markham’s decision may be considered a form of political censorship, and a threat to freedom of expression. We question the right of a political office to veto any public artwork that has been professionally curated and developed, the prioritisation of political interests over freedom of expression, and the stifling of marginalised representation and public opportunities for alternative engagement with environment, culture, and community. While we cannot know the precise motivation for the last-minute cancellation, we are concerned by what can most easily be read as a politically-driven, fearful response to public representation of queer bodies, and specifically, a subject in drag. The City’s actions are particularly upsetting given the troubling climate and politics around drag performance and representation in public spaces, that have resulted in recent threats of violence across Canada and the US.

“Bicycle explores - among other things - gender fluidity and gender performance, with a binary subject in a yin-yang structured composition. Spiritual references that are both Chinese and Western in origin function as a bridge between cultures common to Markham, James’ mixed ancestry, and my own identity as a Chinese-Canadian. I wanted to create a work that could speak to a diversity of communities typically unrepresented in public space and commercial advertising. Growing up in Canada, I often felt alienated in public spaces. I think it’s time for leaders of civic institutions to accept that marginalized cultures are not going anywhere, and should be allowed representation in our shared, common spaces.” - artist Julian Yi-Zhong Hou

More information about the work here

On behalf of implicated marginalized identities represented in Bicycle, respect for the authority and autonomy of professional curatorial processes for public art, artistic collaborators involved in the production and unveiling of the work, and citizens of Markham and other cities with public art programs, this is an open letter to respectfully request that the City of Markham please reconsider their last-minute decision to cancel this temporary public artwork.