# Wong Wai Yin

Who the hell is this Wong Wai Yin (born 1981, Hong Kong) is an interdisciplinary artist who experiments with a variety of media including: painting, sculpture, collage, performance, video, installations and photography. Her work is grounded in autobiographical experience, transforming the familiar and routine into something whimsical and witty.

## Background

Wong was born in British Hong Kong in 1981. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2004 and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Leeds, UK, in 2005. In 2009, while working as a project assistant for Asia Art Archive (AAA), she focused on a documentation and web project called, "Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980–1990". The following year, she returned to AAA as an artist-in-residence (2010 - 2011). Wong is also noted for founding the Observation Society in Guangzhou. Wong is now a part-time lecturer at the City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She joined the Department of Fine Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2012.

## Work

Wong's works include paintings, sculptures, collages, installations, and photography. Wong's art explores themes of realism and has sought to challenge traditional notions of authenticity. Wong has exhibited her work in Hong Kong, Japan, the U.S., Singapore and Guangzhou.
Wong is interested in the institutions' inclusion or exclusion of artists and their works in exhibitions and historical documentation. Her work challenges the value markers that make up the canon of art history, often playing with the presumed boundaries between gallery-exhibited art and daily life. Her inquiry into the role institutions play in an artist's success is related to her concern over what constitutes an honest artwork, free from the artist's ego and from what was taught by institutions in an artist's life.

## Selected work

Wong's 2008 black and white video titled, Tribute to Inside Looking Out - For the male artists along my way, (2 min. 24 sec., single-channel digital video, sound) is on display at M+. The work was made in response to the artist's personal encounters of gendered discrimination and erasure in Beijing. In the video, Wong is seen standing off camera with a metal stool in hand with six male artists appearing one at a time on screen. The video shows Wong hitting each one on the head with the stool, provoking winces and laughs from her “victims.” In the video's rolling credits, a male version of the famous Cantonese pop song called "Fragile Woman" by Faye Wong plays in the background. Wong described this work as her first time engaging with Feminist Art, explicitly reflecting on the male-dominated cultures of art production in present-day China and signalling the need for a decisive rupture against art world patriarchies.

## Personal life

Wong currently lives and works in Hong Kong. She is married to artist Kwan Sheung-chi, and they have one son.

## Exhibitions
### Selected solo exhibitions

* 2016. "Without Trying", Spring Workshop, Hong Kong
* 2011. "Becoming a Different Person Might be Hard" – A Painting Exhibition of Wong Wai Yin, iPRECIATION, Hong Kong
* 2011. "From Wong Wai Yin's Collection to the Hong Kong Art Archive", Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong
* 2010. "Woofer Café Ten", Woofer Ten, Hong Kong
* 2009. "L'Écume des choses" – l'art de Wong Wai Yin, Observation Society, Guangzhou, China

### Selected group exhibitions

* 2014. "Man's Future Fund", Discover Asia, Art Fair Tokyo, Japan
* 2013. ""But is it Art?" "I know but I don't know."", Gallery EXIT, Hong Kong
* 2013. "The Imperfect Circle", Osage Gallery, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
* 2013. "Hong Kong Eye", ArtisTree, Hong Kong
* 2012. "Mobile M+: Yau Ma Tei", Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong
* 2012. "Why Do Trees Grow Till the End?", SOUTHSITE, Hong Kong
* 2012. "Wearable Exhibition: Bring Art Everywhere", Fotan, Hong Kong
* 2011. "Primitive Craftsmanship – Contemporary Mechanism", Artist Commune, Hong Kong
* 2011. "Except why not just come right out and say it:", Collectors House, Heerlen, The Netherlands
* 2010. "Siu Sai Gual Bananale", Woofer Ten, Hong Kong
* 2010. "Taipei Biennial 2010", Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
* 2010. "Everything Goes Wrong for the Poor Couple", ART HK 10, Hong Kong
* 2010. "Go: The First OCAT Youth Exhibition", OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, China
* 2010. "A Guide to Job Loss", Inheritance Projects, Shenzhen, China
* 2010. "FAX", Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong
* 2009. "ISCP Open Studio", ISCP, New York, USA
* 2009. "One Degree of Separation", Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester, UK
* 2009. "Louis Vuitton: A Passion for Creation", Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
* 2009. "Muse", Louis Vuitton Gallery, Hong Kong
* 2009. "Some Rooms", Osage Gallery, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
* 2009. "Charming Experience", Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
* 2009. "Reality Revisited", OC Gallery, Hong Kong
* 2008. "Wanakio 2008", Okinawa, Japan
* 2008. "Reversed Reality", Worksound, Portland, USA
* 2008. "The 3rd Guangzhou Triennial", Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
* 2008. "Inside Looking Out", Osage Gallery, Singapore
* 2008. "Women's Work", Osage Gallery, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
* 2008. "Sick Leaves" Conceptual Art Exhibition, C&G Artpartment, Hong Kong
* 2008. "Shek Kip Mei / World: Public Housing 20/20", MOST, Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre, Hong Kong
* 2008. "Hong Kong Anarchitecture Bananas: Artists who reclaim space", Artist Commune, Hong Kong
* 2008. "Fair Enough", Blue Lotus Gallery, Hong Kong
* 2008. "Sun of Beach", Wong Wai Wheel Artspace, Hong Kong
* 2008. "Fotanian: Fotan Artists Open Studios 2008", =(o-otter studio, Fotanian Artists Studios, Hong Kong
* 2007. "Vending Art Machine" Made in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
* 2007. "Copied Right", Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong
* 2007. "Time After Time", Basement, Hollywood Centre, Hong Kong
* 2007. "97+10" Reversing Horizons, Artist Reflections of the Hong Kong Handover 10th Anniversary, MoCA Shanghai, Shanghai, China
* 2007. "Exhibitions On – Fire!", Para/Site Central, Hong Kong
* 2007. "Variances in Singular", Too Art, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
* 2007. "Fotanian: Open Studio 2007", =(o-otter studio, Fotanian Artists Studios, Hong Kong
* 2006. "Dream a little dream", Basement, Hollywood Centre, Hong Kong
* 2006. "aWay" Group Exhibition of Contemporary Visual Artists, 1a space, Hong Kong
* 2005. "Hong Kong Art Biennial Exhibition 2005", Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
* 2005. "Art SuperMart＠Para/Site", Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong
* 2005. "Studio Visit", Bankley House Studios, Manchester, UK
* 2005. "Meeting Point" MA Fine Art Graduation Show, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
* 2004. "Build: HK Spirit Red White Blue", Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Hong Kong
* 2004. "CUHK Fine Art Graduation Show", The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
* 2004. "Sculpture non Sculpture", 1a space, Hong Kong
* 2003. "Fotanian", Yiliu Painting Factory, Fotanian Artists Studios, Hong Kong
* 2003. "Hong Kong Art Biennial Exhibition 2003", Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
* 2003. "Just Do It" Sharon Lam, Doris To and Wong Wai-yin Joint Exhibition, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
* 2002. "Cho Siu-yee and Wong Wai-yin Joint Exhibition", The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

## Curated projects

* 2011. "Love and Community", Woofer Ten, Hong Kong
* 2010. "Kanyu Weiti Fengshui Weiyong Sculpture Installation", Woofer Ten, Hong Kong
* 2008. "Sun of Beach", Wong Wai Wheel Artspace, Hong Kong

## Awards

* 2009. "ADC and ACC Artist-in-Residence Fellowship", Hong Kong Arts Development Council and Asian Cultural Council, Hong Kong
* 2004. "The British Chevening Scholarship", Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Hong Kong
* 2003. "Hui's Fine Arts Award", The Art of CUHK 2003, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
* 2003. "Cheung's Fine Arts Award", The Art of CUHK 2003, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

## Artist-in-residence

* 2011. "From Wong Wai Yin's Collection to the Hong Kong Art Archive", Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong
* 2009–2010. ISCP, New York, USA
* 2008. "Wanakio 2008", Okinawa, Japan
* 2008. Worksound, Portland, USA

## Collections
### Private collections

* Hong Kong Museum of Art
* Hong Kong Kadist Art Foundation, Paris/San Francisco
* M+, Hong Kong

## Publications

* The Ten Seconds Preceding the Decision that A Can Be Made Into A Work (2016)
* Without Trying (2016)
* A place never been seen is not a place (2017)
* Everyone's Fine (2021)