Leung Chi Wo + Sara Wong

'Museum of the Lost (Strangers at Home)'

Leung Chi Wo and Sara Wong explore the anonymity of history by contemplating figures in the background of found snapshots. In their Museum of the Lost series, Leung and Wong re-enact the poses and attire of these unidentified, unaware “minor characters,” producing life-sized photographic prints and crafting accompanying texts that imagine their experiences and personalities. The artists’ exhibition focuses on works made from the photo albums of families in Nagoya, Japan, in which Leung and Wong challenge historical grand narratives and shed light on the poetics of photography. Undeterred by the impossibility of truly knowing these people from the fleeting past, the artists’ romantic encounter with history may inform how we see our role in the world and years to come.

Signature image for Leung Chi Wo and Sara Wong exhibition
Left: Leung Chi Wo + Sara Wong, "Woman In A Red-Checkered Dress Carrying A White Blazer," 2019, Lambda C-type print, 150 x 100 cm. Courtesy of the artists and Blindspot Gallery. Right: Archival photo, "Mother and Sister Visiting the World Expo," 1970, C-print, 7.4 x 10.5 cm. Iwai Yoshinori Collection.

About the artist

Leung Chi Wo (b. 1968, Hong Kong) and Sara Wong (b. 1968, Hong Kong) have collaborated since 1992. The artists co-founded the arts center Para Site in Hong Kong in 1996 and graduated with master’s degrees from the Department of Fine Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1997. From 1999 to 2000, Leung and Wong participated in a residency in New York, where they premiered City Cookie, their most widely exhibited project, as part of a fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council.

In 2001, Leung exhibited in Hong Kong’s first pavilion at the Venice Biennale. He has presented work at EVA International—Ireland Biennial in Limerick and the Thailand Biennale, as well as solo exhibitions at Rokeby, London, and Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong. Leung is an associate professor in the School of Creative Media at the City University of Hong Kong.

Wong is the recipient of the Ramon Woon Creative Prize from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Most Promising Artist Award as part of the Philippe Charriol Foundation Art Competition, Hong Kong. She has participated in artist-in-residence programs at MoMA PS1, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and the Ecole Cantonale d’Art du Valais in Switzerland. Wong is a practicing landscape architect with large-scale projects in China.

Install Views

Credits

Museum of the Lost (Strangers at Home) is organized by SCAD Museum of Art chief curator Daniel S. Palmer and presented as part of SCAD deFINE ART 2023.

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