Thursday, January 30th, 2025
Owen Leong
Exhibitions: Institute for Australian and Chinese Arts and Culture Western Sydney University and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art

Image: Owen Leong, Painted Skin, 2024, Cotton, bleach, silk, steel, 107 x 110 x 18 cm.
Owen Leong’s latest solo exhibition Bitten Peach 分桃 is currently on display at The Institute for Australian and Chinese Arts and Culture (IAC) at Western Sydney University. As the recipient of IAC’s Chey Fellowship, and with support from the City of Parramatta through Parramatta Artists Studios and the NSW Government through Create NSW, Leong has created a major body of new works for this special exhibition.

Bitten Peach 分桃 is an exhibition of contemporary art inspired by a queer reading of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio 聊齋志異, a collection of classical Chinese stories by Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling (1640-1715). The studio, as a physical and symbolic space, functions as a gestalt—a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. In this exhibition, the studio embodies an aesthetic, cultural and sensual universe where historical narratives intertwine with contemporary queer identities.

Exhibition dates: 21 November 2024 to 28 February 2025.

View exhibition information here.

Leong has also been invited to exhibit as part of Antivenom:
Year of the Snake at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art.

As part of 4A’s Lunar New Year celebrations, Antivenom draws on the characteristics of the Snake – wisdom, intuition and persuasion – leading to transformation.

Exhibition dates: 24 January 2025 – 02 March 2025.

View exhibition information here.

Image: Owen Leong, Worship Pleasure, 2024, cotton, bleach, silk, steel, bronze finger hooks (or chain when suspended), 215 x 284 x 7 cm.