'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=
