Tung Yue Nang

Biography

Tung is a very versatile multi-disciplined artist. He is well versed in Chinese painting and calligraphy, and is equally at home with western art idioms, be it modern or traditional. He is proud of his Chinese heritage and would blend it into whatever art style he chooses to work with. Tung has exhibited in several solo and group exhibitions including “One” Art Exhibition in Malaysia and NU-Sense 2002 Nude Art Exhibition by Group 90. He has also won awards such as Dr Tan Tze Chor Art Award 2002 Chinese Painting.

His adaptation of symbolism in his work began with his “ONE” series in which he tried to disseminate the teachings of Lao Tze, China’s first major patriarch of Taoism. He used the circle and the square to represent eternity in time-space, pebbles and water droplets as earthly elements and folds as physical landscapes. All his objects were painted so realistically that the viewer was tempted to touch them to find out if they were real.

By itself, this cheat-the-eye (Trompe l’oeil, in French) effect would pall in no time leaving the impression that the artist is just a highly skilled technician, lacking in creativity. He took his Photo-Realist images well beyond their cosmetic appearance into the realm of an intellectual discourse.

Red, to the Chinese, is an auspicious colour for all happy occasions. Red is also Tung’s favourite. It is, therefore, not surprising that he has saturated this exhibition of his auspicious themes with reds of all shads and intensities.