OWEN LEONG ORIGINAL NATURE 4 - 28 JULY 2018 EXHIBITION OPENING: 4 JULY FROM 6-8PM

ARTEREAL GALLERY 747 DARLING ST

ROZELLE NSW 2039 +61 (2) 9818 7473

INFO@ARTEREAL.COM.AU WWW.ARTEREAL.COM.AU

~ Wi th in the mind there is yet another mind: i t is an awareness that precedes words. 1

1 circa 350 BCE from the Nei-yeh, or ‘Inward Training’, the oldest received text that influenced Chinese thought and culture, including references to cultivating the life forces jing "essence", qi "vital energy", and shen "spirit".

At a time when the ambiguity and artifice of selfies and constructed identities pervade social, political and economic networks and media, artist Owen Leong, in a new exhibition, draws on Taoist philosophies to explore the idea and state of ‘original nature’: the tantalising concept of a person’s embryonic mind prior to cultural conditioning. For Taoists, reconnecting with original nature comes with emptying the self through meditation and other mindfulness practices and attitudes until arriving at awareness unclouded by habitual thoughts, emotions and memories. Leong manifests the quest for the primary self as cycles of regeneration and decay. The artist engages with experiences, mythologies and rituals from his Australian-Chinese heritage and the materials and processes of sculpture - casting, breaking down, assembling and recasting - to convey the complex pathway of creation and obliteration of aspects of the self. The life force, cultural, spiritual, physical and emotional, is at the heart of Owen Leong’s art. Throughout his practice he involves his body as both a vehicle and a site for performance that is expressive of the power and poetics of identity. Resistance Training, a photo-media image introduces the complexities and nuances of the contemporary pre-occupation with body and mind transformation, whether the ‘Gym Bro’ for body betterment or enlightenment for the seeker after self. His multi-limbed hybrid, a fusion of Asian deity Guan Yin and the artist’s own body hold symbolic objects and heft workout weights in a ritualised cultural-crossover performance of transforming. The body parts for Original Nature are all self-casts of the artist. Three watchful guardian figures are life-cast from the artist’s head, disembodied and presented upside-down, emblematic of inversion and introspection, of seeking within for a return to original state. A crystalline spine of white selenite emerging from one upturned neck and

rose quartz from other of the Guardian Heads symbolize energy flow and spirit. Cast bronze linghzi mushrooms, talismans of great health and longevity in traditional Asian culture grow from faces and necks. Mountains are powerful and mystical places where the minuteness of human presence conveys the vastness of the cosmos. Leong’s Self-Portrait as Landscape 山水 conjures the lone philosopher on the mountain and the intensity of the process of introspection and quest for self-knowledge. The body and landscape are as one within the poesy and form of the Self-Portrait as Landscape 山水 series of five sculptures. Human faces merge with and emerge from eroded fissures and extrusions of rock and mountain forms, summoning a visual language that is vested in ancient Chinese literati traditional brush and ink landscape paintings 山水 (shānshuǐ, literally “mountain-water”) and refer to the Five Great Mountains of China and five compass directions, North, South, East, West and Centre of Geomancy, an ancient and contemporary practice for divining the auspicious or harmonious siting of land forms or buildings. The Centre is included as the most important compass reading; it being the direction that reflects an inwards orientation. Leong’s wall-based Original Nature sculptures are cast in hydrostone from the artist’s arms with his fingers assuming the poses for six different ‘mudras’ that are symbolic gestures of healing, regeneration and recuperation of the body for clarifying, purifying and unblocking of energy flow. Crystal shards issuing from the inner arm signify the transitional flow of qi as do lingzhi mushrooms, which have been used in Chinese medicine for over 2000 years to improve the immune system. The fungi (again cast in bronze from living forms) break forth and grow from inner arms and out of forearms. For Leong they also represent a return to the earth - of going back to a state of original nature.

The Metabolic Compositions, a summation group from disparate fragments of the concrete form of the mold, the hydrostone casting and mineral and organic accretions expressively articulate the emotional forces and philosophical and analytical impetus inherent in the search for ‘original nature’. They encapsulate the breakdown, uptake and absorption of learning and unlearning - and the continuing conundrum of nature versus nurture. Barbara Dowse Curator

GUARDIAN HEADS Behind the mind we have created is another; the intrinsic mind. Original nature is the primordial state of all things, prior to the imprint of culture. It is usually a state one returns to. Guardian Heads is a series of three sculptures cast from the artist’s own head. Inverted upside-down, from one head emerges a crystalline spine of white selenite crystal. The other heads have clusters of rose quartz crystal growing from upturned necks, while bronze cast lingzhi mushrooms grow from the face and neck. By turning the heads upside-down, the artist is inverting culture that is imprinted on the body and mind. It is a way of looking within oneself to find a new perspective. These are contemplative, totemic and watchful guardian figures.

#1 Guardian Head 精 (Jing) 2018_Hydrostone, bronze, rose quartz crystal points, steel_ 36 x 20 x 28 cm / 110 cm high x 30 cm diameter (stand)_$4,000

#2 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)_ $4,000

#3 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)_ $4,000

ORIGINAL NATURE Original Nature is a series of sculptures cast from the artist’s own arms. Clear quartz crystals grow from the dislocated arms, while fingers are shaped in the form of mudras that invoke healing gestures of the body for clarifying, purifying and unblocking of energy. These are symbolic gestures of healing, regeneration and recuperation. Small bronze cast lingzhi mushrooms sprout from the stone flesh of the arms. Mushrooms are symbolic of regeneration and transformation between states. This is reflected in the artistic process of casting in bronze, which results in the organic material of the mushroom being destroyed in fire, with its negative form replaced by solid metal.

Lingzhi mushrooms have been used in Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years. Symbolising health and longevity, they are used to improve the immune system, and have a positive effect on the qi of the heart. For Leong, mushrooms also represent a return to the earth, of returning to the state of original nature.

#4 Original Nature (Mukula) 2018_Hydrostone, bronze, clear quartz crystal points, steel_39 x 13 x 19 cm / 11 x 2 x 10 cm (bracket)_$2,500

#5 Original Nature (Ahamkara) 2018_Hydrostone, bronze, clear quartz crystal points, steel_41 x 22 x 15 cm / 11 x 2 x 10 cm (bracket)_$2,500

#6 Original Nature (Mushti) 2018_Hydrostone, bronze, clear quartz crystal points, steel_43 x 13 x 11 cm / 11 x 2 x 10 cm (bracket)_$2,500

#7 Original Nature (Brahmara) 2018_Hydrostone, bronze, clear quartz crystal points, steel_46 x 13 x 12 cm / 11 x 2 x 10 cm (bracket)_$2,500

#8 Original Nature (Prana) 2018_Hydrostone, bronze, clear quartz crystal points, steel_40 x 21 x 17 cm / 11 x 2 x 10 cm (bracket)_$2,500

#9 Original Nature (Buddhi) 2018_Hydrostone, bronze, clear quartz crystal points, steel_41 x 17 x 12 cm_11 x 2 x 10 cm (bracket)_$2,500

SELF-PORTRAIT AS LANDSCAPE 山水 Human beings can be seen as a microcosm of the universe. As a consequence, it is believed that a deeper understanding of the universe can be achieved by understanding oneself. Self-Portrait as Landscape 山水 is a series of sculptures that combines human with landscape forms. The artist’s head was moulded and cast, smashed into fragments, then reabsorbed, reshaped and resculpted. These sculptural assemblages were then cast again in their final forms as solid concrete human-mountain-landscapes. This labour-intensive, material-driven process in the artist’s studio reflects the cyclical nature of self-creation and destruction.

This series was inspired by 山水 (shān shuǐ, literally “mountain-water”), Chinese brush and ink paintings that depict landscapes or scenery, centred around mountains. In these works, Leong has translated traditional Chinese ink-brush paintings into contemporary sculptural form.

These sculptures also reference the Five Great Mountains of China, based on the five compass directions of geomancy: North, South, East, West and Centre. The centre is included as the most important direction, reflecting the orientation that points inwards. Self-Portrait as Landscape 山水 evokes the lone philosopher on the mountain, the process of introspection and the quest for self-knowledge. Mountains are powerful and mystical places, where the minuteness of human presence conveys the vastness of the cosmos.

#10 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) $4,500 / $5,000 with steel base

#11 Self-Portrait as Landscape 山水 (North)

2018_Concrete, marble dust, white quartz, beeswax, steel_23 x 19 x 22 cm / 110 x 45 x 45 cm (base) $2,500 / $3,000 with steel base

#12 Self-Portrait as Landscape 山水 (East) 2018_Concrete, marble dust, white quartz, beeswax, steel_32 x 22 x 22 cm / 110 x 45 x 45 cm (base) $3,500 / $4,000 with steel base

#13 Self-Portrait as Landscape 山水 (South)

2018_Concrete, marble dust, white quartz, beeswax, steel_25 x 17 x 27 cm / 110 x 45 x 45 cm (base) $2,500 / $3,000 with steel base

#14 Self-Portrait as Landscape 山水 (West) 2018_Concrete, marble dust, white quartz, beeswax, steel_30 x 24 x 22 cm / 110 x 45 x 45 cm (base) $3,500 / $4,000 with steel base

METABOLIC COMPOSITIONS

In this series of sculptures, the artist’s face and hands are cast in concrete, smashed into fragments and reassembled into accretions with shimmering black tourmaline, warm rose quartz chunks, and ginger cast in hydrostone. These are emotional aggregations of the human form with natural stone, plant forms, and crystals. Leong is interested in the poetic resonance of the body’s internal processes of creation and destruction. Metabolism is a process of life-sustaining chemical transformations within living beings, usually divided into catabolism – breaking down – which releases energy, and anabolism – building up – which consumes energy. These small sculptural studies encapsulate some of the themes explored in this exhibition. The process of casting is transformative: flesh to stone, plant to stone, fungus to metal. There is a translation from one state to another: painting to sculpture, organic to inorganic. There is the opposition of base and precious, natural and constructed. Overall there is a looking inwards to explore the life inside of things, and to find worlds within worlds.

#15 Metabolic Composition 1 2018_Concrete, hydrostone, rose quartz, black tourmaline, steel_17 x 11 x 15 cm / 20 cm diameter (base)_$1,200

#16 Metabolic Composition 2 2018_Concrete, hydrostone, rose quartz, black tourmaline, steel_16 x 13 x 12 cm / 20 cm diameter (base)_$1,200

#17 Metabolic Composition 3 2018_Concrete, hydrostone, rose quartz, black tourmaline, steel_15 x 12 x 16 cm / 20 cm diameter (base)_$1,200

#18 Metabolic Composition 4 2018_Concrete, hydrostone, rose quartz, black tourmaline, steel_11 x 16 x 9 cm / 20 cm diameter (base)_$1,200

#19 Metabolic Composition 5 2018_Concrete, hydrostone, rose quartz, black tourmaline, steel_11 x 18 x 13 cm / 20 cm diameter (base)_$1,200

RESISTANCE TRAINING Leong is interested in the ways that desire and masculinities are constructed through the physicality of sport. The gym is a space filled with visual codes of strength, power, and dominance. Resistance training, or weight lifting, shapes the body to a paradigm of ideal masculinity. In the age of the #gymbro, where men’s bodies are rendered more visible than ever before in society and culture, the gym is a highly gendered space where hypermasculine identities are performed and latent homoeroticism is sublimated. Resistance Training disrupts a single coherent vision of the idealised White male body. This photographic work fuses an Asian male body with a Thousand Arm Guan Yin. Usually represented as female, but sometimes depicted as male, Guan Yin is an East Asian bodhisattva who observes suffering in the human world and offers mercy, compassion and kindness. In a hybrid cultural mashup, this fractured figure extends his multiple limbs to undress, hold symbolic objects, and lift weights – training in small acts of resistance. In a gay culture that often desexualises the Asian male body, there is a charged sense of eroticism as the white shirt is taken off. Cast ginger and quartz crystal are symbolic objects held up in a private ritual of transformation. Arms, shoulders and biceps strain, press and push, hefting barbells and dumbbells to build strength and internal power. In this work, resistance is the use of force to oppose something. Resistance is the refusal to accept or comply. It is the opposition to an established authority. Training oneself to resist is also a strengthening of the mind and spirit. It is a kind of artistic resistance to oppression, which destabilises the performance of masculinity.

#20 Resistance Training 2017_Archival pigment print on cotton paper_Edition 2/5_120 x 120 cm_$3,900 unframed / $4,500 framed

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY 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.

OWEN LEONG Livesand works in Sydney, Australia EDUCATION 2005 Master of Fine Arts. University of New South Wales 2002 Bachelor of Fine Arts (First Class Honours). University of New South Wales SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2018 Original Nature. Artereal Gallery, Sydney 2016 Emotional Geometry. Artereal Gallery, Sydney 2014 Bloodmilk. Artereal Gallery, Sydney

Bloodmilk. Dianne Tanzer Gallery + Projects, Melbourne 2012 Infiltrator. Dianne Tanzer Gallery + Projects, Melbourne

Tidal Skin. Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne Tidal Skin. La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre, Bendigo

2011 Infiltrator. GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney 2010 Birthmark. Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne 2007 Owen Leong. Ryan Renshaw, Brisbane

Owen Leong. Mori Gallery, Sydney 2006 Ghost Heart. Centre for Contemporary Chinese Art, Manchester

Owen Leong. The Prism, Westpac Corporate Art Collection, Sydney 2005 Autofiction. Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney 2004 White Amnesia. Sherman Galleries, Sydney

Crisis Tendencies. ROOM 35, Gitte Weise Gallery, Sydney 2003 Owen Leong. 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2018 Life Blood. Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, Sydney 2017 Ramsay Art Prize. Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide The Unflinching Gaze. Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst

Art Central Hong Kong. Hong Kong Closing the Distance. Bundoora Homestead Arts Centre, Melbourne Sunshine Coast Art Prize. Caloundra Regional Gallery, Caloundra Paramor Prize. Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney

2016 Longli International New Media Arts Festival, China Fables of Change. Month of Photography in Minsk

Artereal X/II. Artereal Gallery, Sydney MAMA National Photography Prize, Albury Sunshine Coast Art Prize. Caloundra Regional Gallery, Caloundra

Grace Cossington Smith Art Award, Sydney Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Sydney 2015 Sydney Contemporary. Carriageworks, Sydney Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast City Gallery

Paramor Prize. Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award. Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney 2014 Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation Signature Art Prize. Singapore Art Museum, Singapore Mind the Gap. Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney

Fictions. Parer Place Urban Screens, Queensland Festival of Photography, Brisbane New Contemporaries. Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast City Gallery Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne Blake Prize (touring). Delmar Gallery; Bayside Cultural Centre; Goulburn Regional Gallery; University of Newcastle Gallery; The Schoolhouse Gallery

2013 Fables of Change. Krasnodar Institute of Contemporary Art, Russia

Phantom Limb. UTS Gallery, Sydney Auckland Art Fair, Auckland MAKE UP: painted faces in contemporary photography. Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne Made In China, Australia (touring). Burnie Regional Art Gallery; McClelland Sculpture Park and Museum; Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery; Adelaide Festival Centre; Ararat Regional Gallery; Kickarts Contemporary Arts Cairns; Grafton Regional Gallery, QVMAG Launceston Blake Prize. Galleries UNSW, Sydney

2012 Instinct. Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide

Made In China, Australia. Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart Chinese Australia. Australia China Art Foundation, Melbourne John Fries Award. Gaffa Gallery, Sydney

2011 Magic Spaces. Today Art Museum, Beijing

The Rest is Silence. Death Be Kind, Melbourne Night Vision. 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art at Grasshopper Bar, Sydney

2010 Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne 2009 NEXT Art Fair, Chicago

Surveying the Field. Counihan Gallery, Melbourne Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne

2008 Bridge Art Fair, Berlin Reflecting Skin. City Art Rooms, Auckland Leading Lights. Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney 2007 Soft Power. Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai Asian Attitude: Transit Forces. National Museum of Poznan, Poland I’ll Be Your Mirror. Gallery Primo Alonso, London

Synthetic / Aesthetic. 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney Entanglement. West Space, Melbourne Funeral Songs. MOP Projects, Sydney Churchie National Emerging Art Exhibition. Anglican Church Grammar School, Brisbane Blake Prize. National Art School, Sydney

2006 I’ll Be Your Mirror. Liverpool Biennial Independents, Liverpool Video Easy. The Hart Center For Arts, Beijing Helen Lempriere Traveling Art Scholarship. Artspace, Sydney 2005 Asian Traffic. Esplanade Jendela Visual Art Space, Singapore; Today Art Museum, Beijing; Zendai Museum of Modern

Art, Shanghai; OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen; Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong

Contemporary Collection Benefactors Art Auction. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Text Me: an exploration of body language. Sherman Galleries, Sydney Helen Lempriere Traveling Art Scholarship. Artspace, Sydney

2004 Asian Traffic. 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney. Official Parallel Event of the Biennale of Sydney Res Artis: Song Dong, Owen Leong, Shen Shaomin. Artspace, Sydney

Night Vision Video Projects. 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney Helen Lempriere Traveling Art Scholarship. Artspace, Sydney

AWARDS 2018 Ramsay Art Prize, Finalist 2017 Asialink Visual Arts Residency 2016 MAMA National Photography Prize, Winner 2015 Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Winner 2014 Ian Potter Cultural Trust Grant

Arts NSW Grant Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation Signature Art Prize, Finalist Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Finalist Bowness Photography Prize, Finalist

2013 Australia Council New Work Grant 2009 Asialink Visual Arts Residency

Bowness Photography Prize, Winner People's Choice Award 2008 Australia Council New Work Grant

Art Gallery of NSW Moya Dyring Studio Ian Potter Cultural Trust Grant

2007 Churchie National Emerging Art Prize, Winner Works on Paper Art & Australia Contemporary Art Award, Highly Commended

2005 Australia Council New Work Grant 2003 Australian Postgraduate Award 1998 College of Fine Arts Undergraduate Scholarship COMMISSIONS 2018 World Square Sydney 2017 Bathurst Regional Art Gallery 2014 Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre 2012 La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre RESIDENCIES 2017 Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong 2016 Parramatta Artist Studios, Sydney 2015 Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai 2009 Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo 2008 Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris 2006 Centre for Contemporary Chinese Art, Manchester

Artspace Visual Arts Centre, Sydney

COLLECTIONS Bathurst Regional Art Gallery Bendigo Art Gallery Gold Coast City Gallery Murray Art Museum Albury Willoughby City Council Collection Swatch Art Peace Hotel Collection, Shanghai

ALL PRICES ARE LISTED IN AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS. INFORMATION IS CORRECT AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION.

SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

This project was assisted by a grant from Create NSW, an agency of the New South Wales Government. The NSW Artists' Grant is administered by the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA).