Written and Interviewed by Jennifer J. Lau
All Images Provided by Jeffrey Chong Wang / Gallery House

Jeffrey Chong Wang’s deeply moving work has captured my attention since I saw his paintings at ART Toronto in 2016. The paintings were captivating and made people stop and stare; they begged the viewer to (re)consider what was being portrayed in each frame. Later, you would learn that all the figures in his works are self-reflections of himself and his family members as transnational subjects. This week, I sat down with the artist to ask him a few more questions about his life and his desires for his repertoire.

LIFE IN CHINA, CANADA + BEYOND

Living in Canada since 1999, Chong Wang’s work is largely informed by his transnational experiences and his native China. Although 1999 is noted a significant moment of his life in various interviews, Chong Wang actually spent more time in Beijing between 2010 and 2016. Working with Chinese artists in his studio during this time inspired new ideas and pointed him in new directions. He also shares that, “In my early 20s, spending a year living and working in Florence, Italy was another significant event in my artist career.”

This multifaceted cultural upbringing is evidently infused in his works with Western oil painting techniques juxtaposed with motifs from Asian culture. This juxtaposition acts as a mirror of his outlook and experiences. Chong Wang states that although Early Renaissance and North Renaissance Art greatly influenced him, ultimately all art has become “some kind of visual reference” for him. And that he is also influenced by visual cultures such as modern photography, films, Japanese prints, Indian miniature paintings, etc.

INVITATION TO ENGAGE: AMBIGUITY AND HISTORY

With a quick survey of his works, one may notice that Chinese script appears often on objects in his paintings. When asked about the intention behind this, the artist shares that the Chinese acts as a supporting element of the entire image. Often seen on book titles, newspapers, store signs, and on clothing, Chong Wang, intriguingly, does not wish for the Chinese script to be the focus of the viewer’s attention. However, a scholar of literature can hardly stop herself from reading between the lines of these words and texts.

It is the same with the use of animals that one may want to read into and apply symbolic meaning. Animals appear frequently in his paintings - from zebras, horses, pandas, tigers, to elephants. Yet they are just like any other element in his paintings and acts as part of the whole piece, he shares. The artist wishes for viewers to see them as they are; Jeffrey Chong Wang plainly states:

The symbolic definition of each animal is not important to me. I pay more attention to certain visual effects generated by juxtaposing those animals next to figures. Since I won’t give any new semiotic meaning to those animals, I hope viewers can see them just the way they are.

Ultimately, various elements in each painting, which in dialogue with each other that offer an intimate invitation to viewers to rethink their ideas of history. While it may be tempting to read into Jeffrey Chong Wang’s work as part of the larger discourse of decolonization of history, the artist does not make statements about this discourse. Instead, Chong Wang’s interest lies in the ambiguity in the sense of history — this is an idea that anyone who loves history and literature can relate to.

The boundaries between what is deemed “fiction” and “non-fiction” are not as clear as they may seem. The layers in representing space helps set the tone of Jeffrey Chong Wang’s narrative of this unknown. In creating a certain amount of discomfort, we believe this is the aura of his work. The artist himself calls it an “interesting energy” — it is the quality of his work that grabs your attention and is unrelentingly holds your gaze.

In pointing out this ambiguity in our ideas of history and in the discomfort, viewers are invited to interpret the work and embrace the unknown.

Where to find him

Jeffrey Chong Wang has received much support around the world. Starting this weekend, Toronto audiences will have the opportunity to see his solo exhibition at the Gallery House.

March 7, 2020 - April 3, 2020

Gallery House

2068 Dundas Street West