Chong Kim Chiew: Make Money With Money, Make Art With Art

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Published in conjunction with Make Money With Money, Make Art With Art, a solo exhibition by Chong Kim Chiew. Held at A+ WORKS of ART, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 24th September to 17th October 2021.

Chong Kim Chiew and A+ WORKS of ART, would like to thank the following individuals for their support and contribution to this publication and exhibition: Chuah Chong Yong Lee Weng Choy Mato Tytee Th e collector who generously lent his work to the exhibition


Introduction

A+ WORKS of ART and Chong Kim Chiew are pleased to present a solo exhibition about the art of money — that thing that makes the world go round — dissecting it as both a fetish object and a value system. 12 works on canvas depict banknotes dating from colonial times of Malaya and British Borneo, to the Japanese occupation, through to the current day. This series is a significant visual record of our country’s numismatic history. It also represents a development of the artist’s signature style and subject: expressive painted collages that visually deconstruct instruments of the state and corporations — such as stamps, maps and fiat currencies. Displayed in replica art fair booths that the artist has constructed in the gallery space, these works explore what money is made of, and in turn, how it rules every aspect of our world. 1


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Make Money with Money, Make Art with Art Sharon Chin Port Dickson, September 2021

When I think about money, I think about time. About how I’m the richest person I know, spending my time like it will never run out — on myself, on others, both human and non-human. Hours of a windy day sitting with a mangrove tree, staring out to the horizon heavy with garlands of clouds. Sunset on the front step with my partner, cleaning delicate segments of banana flowers that we got from our tree, no clock but a lit mosquito coil as the sky flares into night. Yes, this is a flex — an ostentatious one — the equivalent of wearing two Rolex watches at once. I never really understood why rappers do that, but I think I do now. Lining my teeth with diamonds, smiling (or is it snarling?) at you… it feels GREAT. I started out writing this essay about art and about money wondering if it’s worth my time. Cash is everywhere; its logic penetrates everything, impossible to ignore. Like a man who won’t stop talking, it’s banal and boring. The most boring are the over-educated, guilt-ridden, disconnected people who invent increasingly baroque ways (social capitalism, micro finance, the 4-day work week, NFTs) to fix the problems cash 4


has created. The techies and think-tankies, the commodities traders and owners of media outlets — they love artists. They love talking to us about money and technology, plying us with drinks we can’t afford, a look in their eyes like they’re enjoying a mysterious and extremely expensive thing they haven’t figured out a way to get… yet. How do we solve the world’s problems? Bro, it’s EASY!! Just give away money and try not to take so much next time. Literally open your wallet and give me 180k now, no strings attached. I’ll take care of it, make sure it doesn’t hurt people and does some good. What makes me better than you around money? It has something to do with understanding time. 180k — spare change, bro. In your heart, you’re wondering, is this the only reason why she’s still here talking to me? I wonder if Kim Chiew expects to sell any of this work. I guess my essay is supposed to help with that. Is it helping? Do you feel alive? I’m sure you already know, but in case you’re new here, if these works sell, the gallery will get 50% and Kim Chiew the other 50%. I’m getting RM1,500 for this essay regardless, so I’m good. It looks like Kim Chiew spent a lot of time on these pieces, which are beautiful. As paintings, they’re refined and precise. The 12 works on canvas show developments of his signature style and subject: painted collages that visually deconstruct instruments of the state and corporation—such as stamps, maps and fiat currencies. I think Bank Negara should buy this whole series for their collection to show in their museum. It would be on the nose (i.e. boring), sure, but also, not out of place. Kim Chiew’s works have always fulfilled the criteria of being sincere, exquisite art objects replete with aura and meaning. This series is a significant visual record of our country’s numismatic history. The 12 banknotes depicted date from colonial times of Malaya and British Borneo, to the Japanese occupation, through to the current day. Blown up in size, their elements rendered in common materials like safety and packing tape, they look ephemeral and dreamlike. Compared to the impeccably (re)produced ringgit in my hand, these works accurately represent how precarious it feels to 5


make a living on this land under a completely financialized social system, which we call nationhood. Because of his attention to what our money is made of — from paper to the more durable plastic bank notes of today—Kim Chiew might be one of the few artists I trust to make an NFT. In my mind, revealing the materiality of this latest, most-hyped form of money would be the only justification for burning a shit-ton of fossil fuel to mint one in the first place. Most artists don’t understand the medium. They can’t make us see how producing NFTs on their computer connects to the oil refinery next to my house in Port Dickson, which for the last week has been pumping into the air *something* that makes my eyes and throat sore. I’m paranoid about getting cancer. Meanwhile we’ve got artists who don’t seem to know whether they’re making art with money, or money with art, and what any of it has to do with fossil fuel energy or carbon emissions. Whatever! NFTs!! Woooooooooooo!!! Get in, loser!!! Those who drive fast enough are the only ones who will escape their own exhaust. Look around, tell me that’s not what this nation is built on. But the replica art fair booths that these 12 banknote paintings are hung in — should Bank Negara buy that too? No, that one should go to a collector who loves and understands minimalist sculpture, who has built a second, third house for their overflowing art collection and is contemplating raising a whole museum for it. Someone who has gone to many art fairs but doesn’t necessarily enjoy them. Someone who went to Burning Man and had a revelation. Someone whose name should be on a building, just like how they do it in the West; someone who creates a lot of jobs. This person should purchase the replica art booths and put them at the very heart of their planned museum, and make sure art workers maintain the pristine white paint of the plywood. When visitors to the museum get tired, they can occupy the booths, letting the soothing sensation of a completely neutral white cube wash over them. Refreshed, they venture out, as if they have been in a temple. But a temple to what? What prayers are spoken there? 6

Sharon Chin is an artist who lives in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan. Recently, she has been exploring how to heal our relationships to land and place. To see more of her work, please visit: www.sharonchin.com


A Prayer for Time No more duration as a unit of infliction - no work hours, prison sentences, deadly prognoses. No more believing in centuries, generations, war as what begins and ends, the rude periodizations of historians on the payroll. Gestation is also not a clock. Erotic love must finally be given its due as the greatest temporal burglar ever known. And just to be clear, it is not “Father” Time, it is Time the androgyne who is more like Nature’s distant cousin—an exile, prosperous and alluring. No one on earth should have to wish away his or her time on it. All the epic struggle comes down to is people who believe in their own right to property versus people who must come to believe in our own right to time. May the minutes of our own lives now be revered, unsold and eternally unsellable. —Anne Boyer, 1 January 2018

Further Reading: Notes on Chong Kim Chiew’s “Be Careful or You May Become the Centre” by Sharon Chin, Oct 2015 https://sharonchin.com/notes-on-becareful-or-you-may-become-the-centre/ Am I Chinese? Notes on Chong Kim Chiew’s “Isolation House (2005 - 2017)” at A+ Works of Art by Sharon Chin, Oct 2017 https://sharonchin.com/am-i-chinesenotes-on-chong-kim-chiews-isolationhouse-2005-2017-at-a-works-of-art/ No by Anne Boyer, April 2017 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harrietbooks/2017/04/no Can’t We Use Crypto for Something Other Than Capitalism? by Douglas Rushkoff, Aug 2021 https://onezero.medium.com/cant-weuse-crypto-for-something-other-thancapitalism-528a8e8b035f Pakatan Harapan Debacle: A Clash of Narratives? by Jeyakumar Devaraj, Jul 2020 https://aliran.com/aliran-csi/pakatanharapan-debacle-a-clash-of-narratives/ Malaysia, Brunei & Singapore Banknotes & Coins 8th Edition 2016 A complete, recommended numismatic Reference by PMG, NGC and PCGS written by K.N. BOON https://www.trigometric.co/product-page/ malaysia-brunei-singapore-banknotescoins-8th-edition-2016 Earth and Humanity: Myth and Reality by Nate Hagens, May 2021 https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=qYeZwUVx5MY

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Ringgit Malaysia Dua Ringgit 2021 Acrylic and tape on canvas 90 × 180 cm RM 16,000.00



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Ringgit Malaysia (we create the value of art, from zero to infinity) #2 2021 Acrylic and tape on canvas 90 × 180 cm RM 16,000.00



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Ringgit Malaysia 1967 2021 Acrylic and tape on canvas 90 × 180 cm RM 16,000.00



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Government of the Straits Settlements One Dollar 1935 2021 Acrylic, paper and sand on canvas 90 × 180 cm RM 16,000.00



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Malaya and British Borneo One Dollar 1953 2020 Acrylic and paper on canvas 90 × 180 cm RM 16,000.00



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Malaya One Dollar 1941 2021 Acrylic and paper on canvas 90 × 180 cm RM 16,000.00



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Malaya Japanese Occupation-Ten Dollars 2021 Acrylic, paper and reflective tape on canvas RM 16,000.00


Close-up photography edited with light effects


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Malaya Japanese Occupation-Five Dollars 2020 Acrylic, paper and reflective tape on canvas Private collection


Close-up photography edited with light effects


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Malaya Japanese Occupation-Fifty Cents 2021 Acrylic, paper and reflective tape on canvas 90 × 180 cm RM 16,000.00


Close-up photography edited with light effects


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Cocos Keeling Islands One Rupee 1902 2021 Acrylic and paper on canvas 90 × 110 cm RM 10,000.00



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Four Northern Malay States One Dollar 1943 2021 Acrylic and paper on canvas 90 × 180 cm RM 16,000.00



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Sungei Buloh One Dollar 1936 2021 Acrylic and paper on canvas 90 × 130 cm RM 12,000.00



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Booth no.1 2021 Wood board, wood stick and acrylic board Dimensions variable RM 60,000.00



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Booth no.1 (detail) 2021 Wood board, wood stick and acrylic board Dimensions variable


Artist Profile

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2018 DO NOT GO INTO THE MIST DO NOT GO BACK TO THE DARK DO NOT STAND STILL, A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2015 BE CAREFUL OR YOU MAY BECOME THE CENTRE, Wei-Ling Contemporary, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Chong Kim Chiew (b.1975) is a graduate (BFA, Oil Painting) of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art. Chong is an artist and curator who enjoys the openness of art language. Working across different mediums, methods and paradigms, he believes the most critical factor in contemporary art is “attitude”. His installation work comments on the social and political environment of the exhibition sites. Seeing the meaning of materials as linked to the environment, Chong regards materials as being non-static but constantly fluctuating, expanding outwards and prone to misreading. He has exhibited internationally in ARTJOG 8, Indonesia (2015), Remnants From Paths That Wander, Philippines (2015), Open Sea, Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon (2015) and Panorama: Recent Art from Contemporary Asia, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2012). He has participated widely in group exhibitions and has had several solo exhibitions including: DO NOT GO INTO THE MIST DO NOT GO BACK TO THE DARK DO NOT STAND STILL, A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur (2018), BE CAREFUL OR YOU MAY BECOME THE CENTRE, WeiLing Contemporary, Kuala Lumpur (2015), Chong Kim Chiew: MAGNITUDE, 67 Tempinis Gallery, Kuala Lumpur (2009) and Isolation House, RAP Art Space, Kuala Lumpur (2005). His work is collected by the Singapore Art Museum. He will be participating in the upcoming 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT 10) and exhibiting in QAG, GOMA, Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, Australia from the 4th December 2021 to 25th April 2022. He lives and works in Malaysia. 44

2009 Chong Kim Chiew: MAGNITUDE, 67 Tempinis Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2005 Isolation House, RAP Art Space, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2021 TOPOGRAPHY OF MIRROR CITIES, Lostgen’ contemporary art space, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Holding Pattern, A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2018 Tanah Air, MATRADE Exhibition and Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Teh Tarik with The Flag, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2020 Wawasan 2020: Townhall , Tun Perak Co-Op, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia READY BUT POSTPONED OR CANCELLED, A+ Works of Art,Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia A+ Online Festival of Video Art, A+ Works of Art, Online BACK TO ART, A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2017 Contemporary Forum Malaysia 2009–2017, Ilham Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Boundaries of [dis] Beliefs, White Box Publika, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Kadang Kadang Dekat Dekat Akan Datang N0.2: Chong Kim Chiew and FX Harsono, A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2019 A+ Entrée, A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia A+ Preferred, A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia A Different Corner, MATRADE Exhibition and Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Rasa Sayang, A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Embracing Our Heritage for the Future, Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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2016 S AGER: Ties of Tenggara, Balai Seni Visual Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The Past Is Never Where You Think You Left It, Wei-Ling Contemporary, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Seismograph: Sensing the City-Art in the Urban Age, Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Singapore 2015 MAKING DURIAN, Run Amok, George Town, Malaysia ART TAIPEI 2015,Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei, Taiwan More Than Friends: ASEAN 5 , Wei-Ling Gallery@Victory Annexe, GeorgeTown, Malaysia ARTJOG 8, Taman Budaya, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Open Sea, Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon, France Remnants From Paths That Wander, Gallery Orange, Bacolod City, Philippines

2014 Impartial Origins, HOUSE of Frida, Bacolod City, Philippines 刻 舟求劍-Pulau MelayuLost and Found, Lostgens’ Art Space, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Malaysian Eye, MAP@ PUBLIKA, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Young Malaysia Artists New Object(ion) 2, Muzium Negeri Pulau Pinang, George Town, Malaysia 2013 Young Malaysia Artists New Object(ion) 2, Gallery Petronas, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia M50 SELAMAT HARI MALAYSIA, MAP@PUBLIKA, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia DUO:EXILE BOUNDARIES, HOM ART TRANS, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia BARRICARE Kuala Lumpur 7th Triennial, MAP@PUBLIKA, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2012 Panorama:Recent Art from Contemporary Asia, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore SAGE #3 Southeast Asia Art Group Exchange Residency Exhibition, Boston Gallery, Manila, Philippines


2011 In Death Row’s Shadow, MCPA Hall, KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia SAGE #2 Southeast Asia Art Group Exchange Residency Exhibition, Sangkring Art Project, Yogyakarta, Indonesia tanah ayer: Malaysia Stories from the Land, Selasar Sunaryo Art Space Bandung, Indonesia SAGE #1 Southeast Asia Art Group Exchange Residency Exhibition, House of Matahati, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2010 Negaraku, Boleh! (My Country, Can!), Evil Empire, Singapore 3rd Artriangle, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Contemporary Rhetoric, Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2009 New Malaysia Artist: Our Own Orbit, Tembi Contemporary, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Cartographical Lure, Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia History Lessons : Works on Paper, Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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2008 2nd Artriangle, Soka Gakkai, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2007 A White House and A Temporary Road, The Annexe Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2006 YCA, 153 Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2004 not that balai Festival, Lost Generation Art Space, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ROTTEN, RAP Art Space, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2003 underground, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia SPACE dialogue + art exhibition, RAP Art Space, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2001 Guongzhou Academy of Fine Art Graduation Exhibition, Guongzhou, China 1999 Three Signal, Macau, China 1997 P ameran Terbuka ’96, Galeri Shah Alam, Shah Alam, Malaysia 1996 13th The National Art Inter Change Exhibition, Kaoshiung, Taiwan Three in One, Creative Centre, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia “Waterworld”, Pameran Senilukis Young Talents 1996, Bank Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

BIENNALES, TRIENNIALS AND OTHER PARTICIPATIONS BY THE ARTIST 2021 (Upcoming) The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT 10), 4 Dec 2021 – 25 Apr 2022, GAGOMA; Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

CURATION 2008 CAIS PROJECT-contemporary art in school project, Sekolah Menengah Stella Maris, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2006 YCA, 153 Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2004 ROTTEN, RAP Art Space, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2003 underground, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia


Artist Chong Kim Chiew Writer Sharon Chin Editor Aminah Ibrahim Photography Damien Khoo

A+ WORKS of ART d6 - G - 8 d6 Trade Centre 801 Jalan Sentul 51000 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia +60 18 333 3399 info@aplusart.asia www.aplusart.asia Facebook/Instagram @aplusart.asia

Copyright © 2021 Chong Kim Chiew and A+ WORKS of ART. All rights reserved. All articles and illustrations contained in this catalogue are subject to copyright law. Any use beyond the narrow limited defined by copyright law, and without the express of the publisher, is forbidden and will be prosecuted.

Booth Production Maroon Art & Design Design Kenta.Works

A+ WORKS of ART is a contemporary art gallery based in Kuala Lumpur, with a geographic focus on Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Founded in 2017 by Joshua Lim, the gallery presents a wide range of contemporary practices, from painting to performance, drawing, sculpture, new media art, photography, video and installation. Its exhibitions have showcased diverse themes and approaches, including material experimentation and global conversations on social issues. Collaboration is key to the ethos of A+ WORKS of ART. Since its opening, the gallery has worked with artists, curators, writers, collectors, galleries and partners from within the region and beyond, and continues to look out for new collaborations. The gallery name is a play on striving for distinction but also on the idea that art is never without context and is always reaching to connect — it is always “plus” something else.



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