Warren khong
日時
9.26(Wed) 20:00 – 22:00 アーティストトーク ＆ オープニングレセプション
9.29(Sat) – 30(Sun) 16:00 – 20:00 ※お時間にご注意ください。
Date
9.26(Wed) 20:00 – 22:00 Artist Talk ＆ Reception Party
9.29(Sat) – 30(Sun) 16:00 – 20:00 ※Please be careful to the opening time.
Sleeping Sun
A solo exhibition by Warren Khong
Sleeping Sun is Khong’s sixth solo exhibition, and his first in Tokyo. Taking its title from a song, Sleeping Sun references neither the song itself, nor any other poetic imagery. Rather, the title alludes to the sun as a source of light. Historically, light has been a common subject for painters and the investigation of light as a material is an integral aspect of Khong’s practice, as reflected in the works presented. Thus, Sleeping Sun may advert to the absence of light and, ironical to the title, in the cessation of light, the works cease to exist.
This exhibition presents three works – #085, #096 and #100, which follows from his enquiry into the constituents of painting, and the contexts in which it occurs. #085 comprises of aluminum plates white washed on the surface and mounted on the wall. This minimalist wall installation emanates a subtle hue that appears to be composed by light but is in fact executed through concealed paint. Painted yellow and green on the reverse, the interplay of reflection and shadow manifests a striking physicality in each work, magnifying the presence of the small rectangular wall pieces. Shadow becomes form, and paint transforms into light. The strength of this illusion stems in part, from how color and light have the power to alter the perception of a work’s status. For once the gallery lights are switched off, the artworks cease to exist, becoming white washed objects instead. Taken in such light, the bias of color as a legitimising factor to what makes a work a piece of art, is being raised.
#096 is conceived as a site-specific painting installation. Here, it is not paint that is taken as the medium but the very color yellow itself that acts as the material for art making. The employment of paint is merely as the vehicle to convey, to allow the color Yellow to happen. Executed in a bright, reflective yellow, #096 allows also for the reflection of the yellow through the presence of light to fall onto and interact with or influence the light and colour of the space itself, as well as with the work #100 installed within the gallery. The execution of #096 is via a specific set of instructions transmitted to the owner of the gallery and physically created by proxy. It is devoid of the artist’s hand, allowing for the work to be made without needing the presence of the artist. At the end of the exhibition, #096 is to be painted over/destroyed and the work continues to remain only through its idea and in its documentation.
Yet, the conjecture of the bias of colour as a legitimising factor as raised in #085 is challenged by making White a subject matter in #100, which examines White as material itself. It also looks at the notion of the wall and its significance as surface and/or site in painting and the history of painting. In a previous work, #095, Khong presented an empty, white gallery space with the floor painted over in a white water based gloss paint. Here, in #100, the same ‘floor’ is transferred onto the wall of the gallery and the wall reclaims its rightful place as the site for painting, as well as the surface for painting. #100 invites viewers to see, to observe, to engage with the wall and the presence of the wall itself.
The painting happens in the painting of the wall, the application of White onto the surface. In the glossy reflectivity of the White, image making occurs and one remembers that walls are seldom painted gloss, reflective. In the supposed subtlety of White on white we instead have gloss on matte and a myriad variety of images are allowed, given the setting and frame to occur. Here, the wall is both painting and frame, at once infinite, at once absolute.
Warren khong
Born and based in Singapore, Warren Khong situates his practice in the investigation of materiality in art to push the possibilities of representation in painting and drawing, as well as their reception. His primary research explores concepts of painting and its relation to surface and materiality – from selected metal surfaces to light, colour and reflection, he also explores spaces and site specificity as well as the intangible or immaterial, proposing for material as Idea. This interest in engaging in the intangibility of materials in art-making, as a way of challenging the ontological status of art and art objects allows for Khong to continue questioning notions of painting in art making.
Khong graduated with a Master of Arts, Fine Arts from Goldsmiths, University of London, U.K., in partnership with LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. He has had five solo exhibitions – Light-Space (In collaboration with Urich Lau) at Objectifs – Centre for Photography and Film, Singapore in 2016, Whitewash at the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore in 2016, Same Same But Different at Reading Room, Singapore in 2013, A Collection of Shapes in Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Black and White at Marcuard Asia, Singapore in 2011 and Warren Khong: A Solo Exhibition at the Hôtel Salomon De Rothschild, Paris, France in 2011. Selected group exhibitions include In Praise of Shadows at the Art, Design and Media (ADM) Gallery at the Nanyang Technological Gallery, Singapore in 2017, Supernatural at Gajah Gallery, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 2017, Turn Loose The Mermaids at iPreciation Gallery, Singapore in 2016, Dear Painter at Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Singapore in 2015 and Vernacula_ at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore, in 2015.
His works have been commissioned by La Maison du Whisky for their Artist range and Karuizawa selected by La Maison du Whisky limited edition whisky labels as well as Velier for their Warren Khong range. He is a draughtsman in the Sol Lewitt foundation and worked on both Sol LeWitt wall drawings at the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. His works have also been collected by the Singapore Art Museum, La Maison du Whisky, Velier and various other private collections.
EDUCATION
2014 – 2015 2008 – 2009 2002 – 2006
MA in Fine Arts, Goldsmiths, University of London, U.K, in partnership with LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
BA (Hons) in Fine Art: Painting and Drawing, University of Huddersfield, U.K., in partnership with Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
Diploma in Fine Art, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2016 Light-Space (In collaboration with Urich Lau), Objectifs – Centre for Photography and Film, Singapore
Whitewash, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
2013 Same Same But Different, Reading Room, Singapore
2011 Warren Khong: A Solo Exhibition, Hôtel Salomon De Rothschild, Paris
A Collection of Shapes in Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Black and White (I still don’t remember the name of the girl I saw that day), Marcuard Asia, Singapore
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018 Alma Matter, Chan + Hori Contemporary, Singapore
2017 In Praise of Shadows, Art, Design and Media (ADM) Gallery, Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore
Supernatural, Gajah Gallery, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2016 Turn Loose The Mermaids, iPreciation Gallery, Singapore
GELB, Zwischenzeitraum, Luzern, Switzerland
2015 Celebrating NAFA’s Fine Art Legacy, Lim Hak Tai Gallery, Nanyang Academy of
Fine Arts, Singapore
Portable Art Week, iPreciation Gallery, Singapore
Dear Painter, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Singapore
Half Past, Art Wood Space, Singapore
Drawing as Draft, Dialogic, Singapore
I Wasn’t Everything, Galleries 1 and 2, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
Vernacula_, Galleries 1 and 2, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
2014 idreamofmona, Praxis Space, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
A Dozen and then Some, Eminent Plaza, Singapore
Tropical Lab 8: Port of Call, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore,
LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
2013 Urban Sensations, Goodman Art Centre, Singapore
Kampong Goodman, Goodman Art Centre, Singapore
2011 Coincidence – A two man show with Max Balatbat, Renaissance Art Gallery,
Manila
2009 Necessary Extravagance: The Elephant in the Room, Lim Hak Tai Gallery, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
Too Far Edna We Wonder Afoot, Wilkie Edge, Singapore 2006 Bottoms Up, Instinc Gallery, Singapore
2005 Not a Black Tie Affair, Front Room Gallery, Singapore Project L403, Unit L403, Telok Kurau Studios, Singapore
ESSAYS ON ARTIST
2017 In Praise of Shadows, Michelle Ho Supernatural, Michelle Ho
2016 Light-Space, Seng Yu Jin
Beyond The Frame: Painting Post Painting, Michelle Ho
Whitewash, June Yap 2015 Dear Painter, June Yap
I Wasn’t Everything, June Yap
2011 The Colour of Experience, John Low
ARTIST TALKS AND WORKSHOPS
2018 Guest Lecture to Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
2017 Artist Talk, School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
2016 Artist Talk, Objectifs – Centre for Photography and Film, Singapore Artist Talk, iPreciation Gallery, Singapore
Artist Talk, Institute of Contemporary Art Singapore, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
Artist Talk, Yale National University of Singapore College (Yale-NUS), Singapore
Workshop, People’s Association, Singapore
2015 Artist Talk, Korean National University of the Arts, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Workshop, People’s Association, Singapore
2014 Artist Talk, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
Workshop, Ministry of Education Singapore Teachers’ Academy for the Arts, Singapore
MEDIA REVIEWS
2017 2017 Review, Ten Best Shows in Asia, CoBo https://www.cobosocial.com/dossiers/2017-review-10-best-shows-in-asia/ In Praise of Shadows, web review, Art Republik http://www.luxuo.com/culture/art/in-praise-of-shadows-exhibition-at-adm- gallery-ntu.html
2016 WHITEWASH, print and web review, Today Newspaper http://www.todayonline.com/lifestyle/how-two-artists-use-white-vinyl-and- ikea-type-furniture-re-examine-world-around-us
2015 Dear Painter, web review, Art Asia Pacific http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/WebExclusives/DearPainter
Top 5 Shows to See for Gillman Barracks’ Third Anniversary, web review, Blouin Artinfo http://sea.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1239754/top-5-shows-to-see-for- gillman-barracks-3rd-anniversary
李鸿辉和叶德晶 为吉门营房策展本地新锐作品, Lianhe Zaobao http://www.zaobao.com.sg/node/535100
WORK EXPERIENCE
2015 – Present Adjunct Lecturer, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore 2015 Adjunct Lecturer, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
SELECTED ACTIVITIES
2017 Commissioned to create a series of artworks for the rum labels of the Warren Khong limited special edition series.
2015 Commissioned to create a series of artworks for the whisky labels of the ‘Karuizawa selected by La Maison du Whisky’ limited special edition series.
2014 Commissioned to create a series of artworks for the whisky labels of the ‘Karuizawa selected by La Maison du Whisky’ limited special edition series.
2013 Organizer and curator for The Under 100 Show group exhibition at the Goodman Art Centre Gallery
2011 Commissioned to create a series of artworks for the labels of the ‘Artist’ range limited special edition whiskies by La Maison du Whisky.
2010 Draughtsman for Sol LeWitt wall drawing at the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort
COLLECTIONS
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore La Maison du Whisky, Paris, France Velier, Genova, Italy
Various private collections