Old Tale Retold

b. 1960, Malaysia; based in Penang

A versatile, multi-disciplinary artist, the last few decades of Wong Hoy Cheong's career show a steady disembarkation from analogue works to the digital. His paintings included in this exhibition are among the paintings he produced soon after his return to Malaysia from his studies in the United States. His influences then included Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Hans Hoffman. On his paintings, Wong reflected, "I was trying to nurture a transplanted element [painting] in a Malaysian context and failed." He turned to collaborative and interactive mediums he felt were closer to the Malaysian context. Observers will note, however, how the two paintings included in this exhibition capture his unwavering passion for activism regardless of mediums. Both 'The Grass Eater' and 'Old Tale Retold' captures his deliberate choice of using the figurative as an act of rebellion, resisting abstraction in his imagery for greater political and social engagement.