Heman Chong: Ifs, Ands, or Buts

Heman Chongs first solo museum exhibition at the Rockbund Art Museum (2016), Shanghai, China, provides an insightful and critical look into the Singaporean artists recent practice. To address the centrality of language, books, and the act of reading in Chongs oeuvre, the eponymous publication features newly commissioned texts from a variety of contributors: an introduction by museum director Larys frogier, and essays by the exhibitions curator Li Qi, Hong Kongbased curator and critic Pauline J. Yao, and new Yorkbased ... Read More

Heman Chongs first solo museum exhibition at the Rockbund Art Museum (2016), Shanghai, China, provides an insightful and critical look into the Singaporean artists recent practice. To address the centrality of language, books, and the act of reading in Chongs oeuvre, the eponymous publication features newly commissioned texts from a variety of contributors: an introduction by museum director Larys frogier, and essays by the exhibitions curator Li Qi, Hong Kongbased curator and critic Pauline J. Yao, and new Yorkbased curator Weng Xiaoyu. The texts are rounded out with a piece of semi-fiction by Ken Liu, a Boston-based lawyer, science-fiction writer, and translator, who played a central role in realizing Legal Bookshop (Shanghai), one of the works featured in the exhibition. Chong has had solo exhibitions at South London Gallery (London, 2015), Art Sonje Center (Seoul, 2015), P! (new York, 2014), The Reading Room (Bangkok), Art in General (new York, 2007), and group exhibitions at Tate Modern (London), new Museum (new York), San francisco Asian Art Museum, and the Hamburger Bahnhof (Berlin), among many others. Read Less