Chee-Keong Kung

Chee-Keong Kung
Oblique Horizons
Margaret W. & Joseph L. Fisher Art Gallery
April 27, 2018 – June 10, 2018
Artists Reception: May 5, 2018 4-6PM

Each work begins with a gesture—a line or wash etc.–that would trigger subsequent moves.  Hard-lined geometry and improvisational brushwork are applied in layers, modifying and obscuring earlier marks. Sometimes the momentum is driven by discovery; others, invention.  I look for a lightness and a level of density in the work that will stand up to repeated and prolonged viewing. Usually, a painting will sit for days before the next move can be intuited. This process continues until the work appears to hover between perfection and imperfection, gravity and weightlessness.

I find that works can accrue structure and meaning only through the application of time and full measures of attention. The finished work is not so much a goal, but rather a pictorial accumulation of intention, curiosity, and happenstance. More often than not, the most satisfying works are those that end up in entirely unexpected places…painting is a way of seeking out places that I do not already know.

White Light by Chee-Keong Kung

Kung’s works are in private, corporate, and institutional collections, including The National Museum Art Gallery of Singapore and The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.  Born in Singapore, Kung studied art & architecture at the University of Houston and real estate at Cornell University.  He lives and works in McLean, VA.   

To learn more about Chee-Keong Kung visit his website at http://www.kungcheekeong.com/