The City of Markham’s sudden, last-minute cancellation of a piece of public artwork one year in the making has the artist — and his subject — concerned about censorship.
In early September, Vancouver-based artist Julian Yi-Zhong Hou was scheduled to install a piece called “Bicycle” on the exterior of the Pan Am Centre sports complex in downtown Markham for a five-month period.
The printed vinyl banner, which measures 127 feet by 30 feet, features a person in drag and was to be unveiled at an event featuring local drag queens, artists and other performers. Then — one day before the installation and over the objections of Markham’s own public art curator — the city cancelled.
Because what city is complete without it’s own oversized artwork dedicated to sexual weirdness?
