Corky Lee on My Mind: Chee Wang Ng
The Salt of The Earth - Dinner Time series (Triptych) (2018; from left to right: Golden Wok, Chelsea; Lucky, Woodside; May Wah, Little Italy; NYC)
"Corky was 'the salt of the earth. This triptych was in 'The Margin Matters: Empathy & Concern,' a group show I was in with Corky in 2019. Neighborhood Chinese restaurants, and especially takeout places, across the U.S. have taken a new important and fresh relevance in the age of Covid-19."
Bio
Chee Wang Ng addresses and expresses the Chinese diaspora identity by recontextualizing and engaging Chinese culture in various and different contemporary media from photography and video to site-specific large scale installations. Food has been the central theme of Ng’s work as the visual consciousness to the soul. As a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, his work has been shown internationally and across the U.S. with solo shows in the Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University; Dunedin School of Art, New Zealand; State University of New York, Geneseo; and others; and extensive group exhibitions across the U.S. and internationally in Brazil, Canada, and Poland.
His début exhibition in New York was reviewed by Holland Cotter of The New York Times, and coverage of his work has appeared internationally, from academic books to the popular media of both press and video. His work is collected in both public and private collections in the U.S. When Ng looks back, it is not for the sheer comfort of nostalgia but to contemplate in how far he has come.