Congratulations to Owen Leong, who was recently announced as one of the recipients of the 2019 4a Beijing Studio Residency!
Awarded by 4a Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, this opportunity allows Owen to embark on a month-long residency at the studios of internationally renowned Chinese-Australian, artist Shen Shaomin located in Huairou District on the outskirts of Beijing. Over the last twenty years Chinese-Australian artist Shen Shaomin has forged an important international career with an emphasis on experimental, conceptual and installation works. Based in Beijing, and having spent over a decade in Australia, Shen’s work spans a number of medium and explores individual and collective experiences of humanity and their impacts on our natural and constructed surroundings.
Supported by ArtChain Global in 2019, The 4A Beijing Studio Program is now in its eighth year, and provides early and mid career Australian artists with a valuable opportunity to research new projects in rich cultural surroundings, build professional networks and observe the changes taking place in one of the most important cities in Asia.
Owen is currently spending one month in China alongside fellow recipients Jessica Bradford and Emily Parsons-Lord. Following on from his residency, Owen will begin working on an upcoming solo show for 2020.
Owen Leong is a contemporary artist working across performance, photography, video and sculpture. His artistic practice uses personal mythologies to explore identity and transformation. He is interested in systems of power, culture and representation. His work uses the body, subjectivity and personhood to reflect on universal aspects of human nature.
Leong’s work has been exhibited widely in Australia and internationally including the Art Gallery of New South Wales; Art Gallery of South Australia; Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre; Monash Gallery of Art; 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art; Singapore Art Museum; Today Art Museum, Beijing; Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai; OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen; and the National Museum of Poznan, Poland.
In 2017, Leong was a finalist in the Ramsay Art Prize, Australia’s richest prize for young contemporary artists working in any medium. In 2015, he received the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award. Leong is the recipient of numerous awards and grants from the Australia Council for the Arts, Ian Potter Cultural Trust, and Asialink. He has held artist residencies at Artspace, Sydney; Centre for Contemporary Chinese Art, Manchester; Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris; Tokyo Wonder Site, Japan; Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai; and Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong.
His work is held in the public collections of Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bendigo Art Gallery, Gold Coast City Gallery, Murray Art Museum Albury, and private collections in Australia and internationally.