Born in Sydney, Australia.
Lives and works in Sydney, Australia.

Owen Leong is a visual artist working with sculpture, painting, photography, and installation to examine the body as a site of individual experience and a product of social and cultural forces. He uses personal mythologies and queer aesthetics to explore power and control, and to reframe and reimagine identities and intimacies. At the heart of Leong’s practice is a belief in the power of art to transform the way we see ourselves and others.

.

Leong’s work has been exhibited widely in Australia and internationally including the Art Gallery of New South Wales; Art Gallery of South Australia; Queensland Art Gallery; Newcastle Art Gallery; 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.

Leong has been awarded a two-year studio residency at the 2023-25 PAS Rydalmere Studios. In 2017, Leong was a finalist in the Ramsay Art Prize, Australia’s premiere prize for young contemporary artists. In 2016, Leong received the MAMA National Photography Prize and in 2015, he won the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award. Leong has been awarded numerous grants from Creative Australia, Create NSW, 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 Creative Australia, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bendigo Art Gallery, Detached Cultural Organisation, Gold Coast City Gallery, Murray Art Museum Albury, Newcastle Art Gallery, University of Salford Art Collection UK, and private collections in Australia and internationally.

Prev Artist

Next Artist

Owen Leong, Forest of Stones (origin), 2019 Concrete, marble dust, rose quartz, 42 x 18 x 31 cm. Owen Leong, Forest of Stones (myth), 2019, Concrete, marble dust, rose quartz, 43 x 30 x 23cm. Owen Leong, Forest of Stones (entropy), 2019, Concrete, marble dust, rose quartz, 43 x 15 x 34cm. Owen Leong at Sydney Contemporary 2019. Installation view taken by Zan Wimberley. Owen Leong, Guardian Head 精 (Jing), 2018, Hydrostone, bronze, rose quartz crystal points, steel, 36 x 20 x 28 cm. Owen Leong, Guardian Head 精 (Jing), 2018, Hydrostone, bronze, rose quartz crystal points, steel, 36 x 20 x 28 cm. Owen Leong, Guardian Head 神 (Shen), 2018, Hydrostone, bronze, rose quartz crystal points, steel, 32 x 32 x 28 cm / 110 cm high x 30 cm diameter (stand). Owen Leong, Guardian Head 神 (Shen), 2018, Hydrostone, bronze, rose quartz crystal points, steel, 32 x 32 x 28 cm / 110 cm high x 30 cm diameter (stand). Owen Leong, Guardian Head 氣 (Qi), 2018, Hydrostone, selenite crystal, clear quartz crystal points, steel_49 x 20 x 23 cm / 110 cm high x 30 cm diameter (stand). Owen Leong, Guardian Head 氣 (Qi), 2018, Hydrostone, selenite crystal, clear quartz crystal points, steel_49 x 20 x 23 cm / 110 cm high x 30 cm diameter (stand). Owen Leong, Self-Portrait as Landscape 山水 (Centre), 2018, Concrete, marble dust, white quartz, beeswax, steel base, 34 x 35 x 24 cm / 110 x 45 x 45cm (base). Owen Leong, Metabolic Composition 2, 2018, Concrete, hydrostone, rose quartz, black tourmaline, steel, 16 x 13 x 12 cm / 20 cm diameter (base). Owen Leong, Original Nature (Prana), 2018, Hydrostone, bronze, clear quartz crystal points, steel, 40 x 21 x 17 cm / 11 x 2 x 10 cm (bracket). Installation view of 'Original Nature' by Zan Wimberley. Owen Leong, Resistance Training, 2017, Archival pigment print on cotton paper, Edition of 5, 120 x 120cm. Owen Leong, Sankalpa, 2016, Archival pigment print on cotton paper, 120 x 120 cm, Edition of 5 + 2 AP Owen Leong, Crystal Skin, 2016, Archival pigment print on cotton paper, 120 x 120 cm, Edition of 5 + 2 AP Owen Leong, Mothertongue, 2016, Archival pigment print on cotton paper, 120 x 120 cm, Edition of 5 + 2 AP Owen Leong, Invisible Light, 2016, Archival pigment print on cotton paper, 120 x 120 cm, Edition of 5 + 2 AP Installation view of 'Emotional Geometry', 2016. Owen Leong, Force Field (amygdala), 2016, Plaster, gilded brass, 43.5 x 45 x 31.5 cm Owen Leong, Ritual Coordinates (varada), 2016, Plaster, quartz crystals, steel, 28 x 20 x 20 cm Owen Leong, Ritual Coordinates (kashyapa), 2016, Plaster, quartz crystals, steel, 34 x 20 x 20 cm Owen Leong, Ritual Coordinates (varada), 2016, Plaster, quartz crystals, steel, 28 x 20 x 20 cm Owen Leong, Ritual Coordinates (apaan), 2016, Plaster, quartz crystals, steel, 30 x 20 x 20 cm Owen Leong, Emotional Geometry (selenite), 2016, selenite, gilded brass, 23 x 55 x 25cm Install shot courtesy of Zan Wimberley. Install shot courtesy of Zan Wimberley. Install shot courtesy of Zan Wimberley. Install shot courtesy of Zan Wimberley. Owen Leong, Emotional Geometry (mottled orchid), 2016, archival pigment print on cotton paper, edition of 5, 67.5 x 45cm Owen Leong, Emotional Geometry (white orchid), 2016, archival pigment print on cotton paper, edition of 5, 67.5 x 45cm Owen Leong, Emotional Geometry (yellow orchid), 2016, archival pigment print on cotton paper, edition of 5, 67.5 x 45cm Owen Leong, Emotional Geometry (spotted orchid), 2016, archival pigment print on cotton paper, edition of 5, 67.5 x 45cm Owen Leong, Emotional Geometry (pink orchid), 2016, archival pigment print on cotton paper, edition of 5, 67.5 x 45cm Owen Leong, Bloodline (diptych), 2013, archival print on cotton paper (two panels), 100 x 200cm, edition of 5 + 2 AP. Infinite Love 2011_HD video_duration 6:18 minutes_edition of 5 +2 AP Cutting (diptych) 2014_archival pigment print on cotton paper_100 x 143cm_edition of 2 Cutting (father) 2014_archival pigment print on cotton paper_100 x 71.5cm_edition of 3 + 2 AP Cutting (mother) 2014_archival pigment print on cotton paper_100 x 71.5cm_edition of 3 + 2 AP Aura 2014_archival pigment print on cotton paper_120 x 90cm_edition of 5 + 2 AP Heartstone 2014_archival pigment print on cotton paper_120 x 120cm_edition of 5 + 2 AP Treefingers 2013_archival pigment print on cotton paper_120 x 120cm_edition of 5 + 2 AP Mudra 2014_archival pigment print on cotton paper_120 x 120cm_edition of 5 + 2 AP Milkteeth 2014_archival pigment print on cotton paper_120 x 120cm_edition of 5 + 2 AP Mouth 2014_archival pigment print on cotton paper_50 x 50cm_edition of 5 + 2 AP Pulse 2014_archival pigment print on cotton paper_50 x 50cm_edition of 5 + 2 AP Owen Leong, Mantle, 2014, archival pigment print on cotton paper, 50 x 50cm, edition of 5 + 2 AP.