Jimmy Ong

Jimmy Ong is one of Singapore's leading contemporary artists.

Biography of Jimmy Ong

Jimmy Ong, born in 1964 in Singapore, is a renowned contemporary artist currently working from his studios in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, USA, in 1992.

Ong has exhibited his works in numerous local and international venues, including Gallery 456 in New York, the National Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, the Newhouse Center of Contemporary Art in Staten Island, the Asian Civilisation Museum in Singapore, Plum Blossoms Gallery in Hong Kong and New York, Lunguganga in Bentota, and Tyler Rollins Fine Art in New York.

His works are part of the permanent collections at the National University of Singapore Museum and the National Gallery Singapore, as well as Deutsche Bank AG, among other private and corporate collections.

Over the years, his exhibitions have included significant shows at the Private Museum in Singapore (2011) and the Singapore Tyler Print Institute (2010). His projects in Yogyakarta were presented at the Biennale Jogja XII in 2013.

Jimmy Ong Art Style

Jimmy Ong is known for his large-scale, figurative charcoal works on paper, which have been a prominent feature of his art since his early solo exhibitions in the 1980s. His pioneering work delved into themes of sexual identity and gender roles, often within the context of traditional Chinese family structures. Over the past twenty-five years, Ong has explored multiple identities and perspectives, whether sexual, ethnic, national, or generational, through his deeply personal works. His art is an ongoing process of "creative self-therapy," drawing from his own experiences and physical form.

In recent years, Ong has investigated marital roles, influenced by his experience in a gay marriage, and expanded his focus to include gender archetypes as conveyed through mythology and spiritual traditions. His seminal exhibition "Sitayana" at Tyler Rollins Fine Art in 2010 marked a shift towards feminist re-imaginings of ancient myths like the Ramayana.

Ong's techniques involve a circular and meditative process of drawing, transferring, and redrawing, as seen in his richly colored gouache works on paper that utilize Chinese splash ink brushwork. His works often feature an androgynous figure, exploring themes of duality, gender binarism, and the fluidity and transformation of identity.