WONG HOY CHEONG
Malaysian, b.1960
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From the series: Chronicles of Crime Chronicles of Crime is Wong Hoy Cheong's photographic recreation of famous Malaysian crime scenes. He carefully composes "tableaux vivants" often using ordinary people as actors, and then photographs the scene. The end result is a series of black and white digital prints on Kodak professional paper. Wong's ironic and occasionally mordant humour, his sharp social and political perceptions, combined with his ingenious and creative attention to details of props and scenery result in a series of images that could easily be taken from the dailies or tabloids or also be film noir stills. Wong has consciously employed the indirect and enigmatic style of film noir with its absence of explicit violence, and its ever present "fade to black." This perhaps serves to heighten the eeriness of the images, that have been the subject of eagerly sought out reportage. He highlights the inherent paradox in contemporary culture of a fascination with violence, fear and anti-social behavior. The extreme variations of fashion and setting--as well as the cultural melange depicted--border on satire, serving to call into question the the socio-political inequalities of contemporary Malaysia and its secretly fear-ridden mythically utopian "Suburbia." However, the series also transcends any specific geographical limits. Literature: "Wong Hoy Cheong: Bound for Glory," Beverly Yong, Carmen Nge, Joselina Cruz, Valentine Wiilie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2006. Public Appearances: "Visiting Artists and Scholars Lecture Series," San Francisco Art Institute, April 17, 2007. http://www.sfai.edu |
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