#hemanchong

'Labyrinths (Libraries)' (2022-ongoing) is a set of images resembling maps of spaces produced out of tight #grids. These are are spaces that are highly organised, with very little room for any form of #improvisation. Horizontal and vertical lines dominate the surfaces of these paintings, forming #pathways that are navigated in one's mind but not break out of. Within every #library, we can locate books which contain many opposing ideas. These #paintings think about multiplicity and the relations between these books and the spaces between them as a landscape of our contemporary time. The visual language within each painting found in 'Labyrinths (Libraries)' is a constant oscillation between positive and negative spaces; sparking an interest in thinking about how ideas can be easily veiled and hidden behind other ideas. 'Cover (Versions)' (2009-ongoing) is an on-going series of #bookcovers imagined as paintings. The selected titles are taken from an extensive and #idiosyncratic list that is constantly expanding via #recommendations sent to him by his friends. Most of these books have never been #read at the time the painting is produced, but is to be read at some point in his life. Each painting is improvised; there has never been an assumption of how the painting might look. Chong discursively exhausts two sets of parallel vocabularies found in painting and graphic design. The abstracted book covers are not intended as reflections on or interpretations of their literary titles, but rather as a way to highlight relationships between textual and non-textual forms. #HemanChong #ROHProjects #STPIGallery #Indonesia #Jakarta #CoverVersions #LabyrinthsLibraries #Bookstagram #Booksofig #booksofinstagram #books #book #libraries #library (at ROH) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmD0TFTrXoO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

The Library of Unread Books is open every day from 10 am to 7 pm and is now currently located on the ground floor of International Plaza, a building next to Tanjong Pagar. If you have any books that you’ve bought but have not read (and don’t wish to read), please bring them to us and someone else will read them for you. It’s a wonderful way to absolve your guilt. A contemporary public confessional booth approved by the Vatican. Come and take part in this socialist project of transforming private property into a public commons. #TheLibraryOfUnreadBooks #Bookstagram #HemanChong #ReneeStaal #SingaporeBiennale2022 #SingaporeBiennale #Singapore #LibrariesOfInstagram #TheGirlWhoKickedTheHornetsNest #StiegLarsson #10000YearsOfArt #bookstagram #book #books #booksbooksbooks #ilovebooks #bookstagrammer #readmorebooks #allthebooks #booksofig #booksofthemonth #bookstack #booksonbooks #library #libraries #librariestransform #librariesoftheworld (at The Library of Unread Books) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClVWczQLDm7/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

I can’t remember the last time I made a work in reaction to a feeling. Gradually over the years, I’ve become less emotional and much more systematic in my approach to art making. But one work that will always remain at the heart of my practice is this work produced in #2008. Made of a million business cards with absolutely nothing but black ink printed on both sides, ‘Monument to the people we’ve conveniently forgotten (I hate you)’ is a reminder to myself of all the relations that have been silenced, exiled and expelled from my memories. And there have been many. And there will be many more. It is a dark work, befitting a dark time. You will encounter this work again this November in a museum that will, finally, be open (and not forgotten). Be sure to stay tuned for more information. This is an installation shot from a beautiful show by @hansulrichobrist and @boltanskichristian installed @pirelli_hangarbicocca called #TakeMeImYours. #HemanChong #monumenttothepeopleweveconvenientlyforgotten #ihateyou (at Pirelli HangarBicocca) https://www.instagram.com/p/CMSc6XGF5Nu/?igshid=1prujwk0bexbu

Have you ever #lived in a #flat or a #house that #nolongerexists in #Singapore? Please PM with your #name and your full ex-address if you wish to be a part of a new work that I am #thinking of #making. The work is quite #simple; it will be your name and ex-address plainly typed out (in #TimesNewRoman) and #printed on a #surface (I haven't decided which surface yet!) that is the size of a #letter sized #envelope. This will hang next to all the other names and ex-#address in a #grid like form in a #gallery #space. Thank you! Please freely #forward this and let #everyone who has such an #experience in Singapore that you know who might want to be a #part of this. #HemanChong #Art #NewWork #EnBloc #hdbflats #Condo #Landed #CrystalTower (at District 10)

#The #website #you #are #attempting #to #access #is #unavailable #as it #contravenes the #Broadcasting (#Class #Licence) #Notification #issued #by #the #Media #Development #Authority #of #Singapore. #Appropriated #text, #site #specific #wall #installation, #dimensions #and #materials #adaptable #per site, #2016 #Edition of #5 + #1 #AP #HemanChong (at Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI))

I once produced a #bookshop on the ground floor of the @rockbundartmuseum in #Shanghai out of a list of #books that the #writer and #translator #KenLiu compiled for me. I hired him not as a writer or a translator but in his capacity as a #lawyer, which is his current day job. My brief to him was very broad: please make me a list of books that you think is useful to #navigate the #legal system of #China. #HemanChong #IfAndsOrButs #RockbundArtMuseum (at Rockbund Art Museum)

Thank you @helmiseestuff for writing about our show for @businesstimessg! - I made this work 22 years ago, and I spent 5 years making it. This work was made before the arrival of social media and the sharing of images wasn't so prolific as it is today. I shot every photo with a Minolta 35 mm compact camera. It was the only camera I could afford. At the heart of God Bless Diana is a journey across the world and the remains of that journey is imprinted onto postcards that could be shared between individuals who would make up the audience of the work. In total, I think I shot about 6000 images, and have selected 550 as a representation of this journey. This idea of having the possibility to hold an image and to share it with someone else is very important to me as it is a gesture of intimacy and generosity. It is a way to communicate with someone who means something to you. It is a dialogue that happens between two people that fosters care. The images on the postcards are mostly things that I find funny, or strange or sad; mostly a combination of all the above. Dry humour plays a big role in my work. You don't know whether to laugh or cry when you encounter some of the images. I don't see myself as a photographer, but rather an artist who uses photography as a way of making notes about the world. All of the work that involves photography in my work doesn't come in the form of precious fine museum quality archival art prints but are projected onto everyday things like postcards, curtains, t-shirts, magazine covers and etc. Being allowed to touch an artwork returns the photograph back into everyday life, creating an experience moves beyond the visual. Edition 1 of this work is in the collection of @singaporeartmuseum Special thanks to the curators @charmaine.toh @hadouken32 who included my work in this wonderful show #HemanChong #GodBlessDiana #LivingPictures #NationalGallery #Photography #SouthEastAsia #Postcards #Photography #DailyLife (at National Gallery Singapore) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl8JgW8rykg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

A big shout out to all the art handlers who help move our work around the world! Thank you @helutrans_artmove! #HemanChong #ROHProjects #STPIGallery #arthandlers #arthandler #helutrans (at ROH Projects) https://www.instagram.com/p/Clx7ojprOak/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=