December 4-24, 2015

Adjacent Amplitudes

Chee-Keong Kung begins each piece with the intention to capture the spontaneity and immediacy of the painting process. Washes, brush strokes, or lines are laid down as stimuli for subsequent moves. Kung responds to surface qualities, material characteristics, and the activity of mark-making in developing the work. Accidental drips, smears and fingerprints become impetuses for further moves and are integral components of the evolving composition.

Kung’s work is derived from a process that is based on responses to the materiality of materials and observations from the natural and built environment. Hard-lined geometry and improvisational gestures are applied over earlier layers, modifying and obscuring the underlying images. Recurring motifs–distilled from ambient visual stimuli–surface and recede, seeming to drift between concreteness and tenuousness.

Kung recently won a Juror’s Award at the biennial Strictly Painting Exhibit (2015) at the McLean’s Project for the Arts and was a Semi-finalist for the DC Art Bank Collection (2015). His work was selected for the Emergence 2014: International Artist To Watch at Galerie Myrtis in Baltimore. His works are in corporate and private collections, as well as the National Museum of Singapore. Born in Singapore in 1967, Kung studied art and architecture at the University of Houston and real estate at Cornell University. He lives and works in McLean, VA.