Summoning Circle
5-27 April 2024
Artereal
Summoning Circle is a body of work using a sophisticated conceptual and material vocabulary drawn from kink aesthetics in a playful celebration of queer joy. Inspired by adrienne maree brown’s concept of “pleasure activism” - which centres pleasure as a political act - Leong’s sculptures and paintings serve as conduits of pleasure for social change, grounded in a queer politics of healing.
In this exhibition of sculptures and paintings, Leong has slowly vanished the body from his work, yet it is still clearly present in the evocative materials and forms of these new pieces. While turning towards new disciplines, Leong reimagines sculpture as self portraiture with residues of the body appearing in cast bronze fingers, leather cuffs and cut denim jeans.
At the heart of this collection lies the circle, a symbol of awakening and altered states of being. Each artwork is a portal inviting the viewer to step into the universe contained within. Delicate porcelain rings are pierced by bronze fingers and mushrooms. Soft sculpture silk drops, in golden yellows and opalescent whites, appear alongside harder industrial materials like stainless steel spreader bars and golden chains.
In Leong’s bleach paintings on deconstructed bed sheets, incandescent marks bloom like psychological Rorschach tests or brain scans. Circles of burning light appear like rings of interstellar fire in the night sky, framing provocative text commands that invite the viewer to surrender to pleasure. These artworks construct a narrative embodying a conversation between queer pleasure and politics.
Complementing the visual narrative is a commissioned work of fiction by Beau Lai, enriching the exhibition with poetic resonance. In Summoning Circle, Leong uses personal mythologies and queer aesthetics to explore power and control, and to reframe and reimagine identities and intimacies. At the heart of Leong's practice is a belief in the power of art to transform the way we see ourselves and others.
Conversations from the Collection
Newcastle Art Gallery
Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast series. Hear inspiring and thought-provoking stories from renowned artists who have contributed to Newcastle Art Gallery’s iconic collection. This six-part summer listening series dives deep into the experiences behind the artists' work to explore how life informs art. Season 2 features Lottie Consalvo, Jemima Wyman, Lindy Lee, Tina Havelock Stevens, Janet Fieldhouse and Owen Leong.
For the past two decades Owen Leong has developed a highly personal art practice that spans sculpture, photography, video, and installation. Through the lens of his own identity as a queer person of colour, Owen examines the social, political, and cultural forces that impact our lives. Often centring his own body within the frame, Owen has used his practice as a way to locate himself within the world.
In this conversation, Owen talks about the steely determination he has needed to pursue his career and why his decision to undertake a Master of Fine Art at the University of NSW was viewed as 'somewhat controversial' by his family.
Owen Leong was invited to write an artistic process essay in issue 64 of Artist Profile.
“Looking back over my artistic practice, I can clearly see the signposts leading to what I’m making in the studio today. In recent years, I have been playing with cycles of creation and destruction: casting my body in gypsum and concrete, smashing these casts into pieces, and reforming them into new sculptural forms to be cast once again. Having worked with my own body for two decades, I now realise this moment was a gradual process of disappearing my body while hiding it in plain sight, like a magician slowly vanishing from the stage. I am gradually moving away from figurative work (physical or photographic) towards non-representational forms, and I’m enjoying the mystery, play, and discovery of sculptural materiality.”
Leisure Centre
Leisure Centre
Parramatta Aquatic Centre (PAC) Commissions
Parramatta Artists’ Studios presented Leisure Centre, a series of artist-led swimwear commissions inaugurating the new Parramatta Aquatic Centre (PAC), which recently opened to the public. Artists Cigdem Aydemir, Owen Leong and EJ Son – whose practices represent facets of queer cultural expression spanning costume and performance – were invited to consider how diverse communities encounter bodies of water, and the emotional and physical spaces that suburban pools occupy within the Australian imagination.
The original Parramatta and District War Memorial Swimming Pool opened in 1959 with an event featuring swimwear-clad members of the local community promenading around the perimeter of the pool. In homage to this history, the artists conceived three distinct visions that represent their individual experiences and interpretations of swimwear, and collectively stake claim to a bold new public space for the communities that converge there. First unveiled at the official launch of PAC, Leisure Centre is an ambitious commissioning project that will culminate in a new publication featuring imagery, critical essays and reflections profiling the diverse people, bodies, and ideas that inhabit and embody the City of Parramatta today.
PAS Rydalmere Studios
Owen Leong has been awarded a two-year studio residency at Parramatta Artists’ Studios Rydalmere.
The 2023–25 PAS Rydalmere Studio Artists are Serwah Attafuah, Billy Bain, HOSSEI, Owen Leong, Jodie Whalen, and Min Wong. These diverse artists represent an exciting cross-section of art forms, bringing generations of creativity, innovation, and experience from across Greater Sydney to the growing PAS community.
Parramatta Artists’ Studios (PAS) is the energetic home for creative production in Western Sydney. It empowers and equips artists to build thriving and sustainable creative lives. PAS nurtures ideas and experimentation, supporting artists to take risks. It works to establish and strengthen peer and professional communities in the contemporary art sector. PAS has supported hundreds of artists since opening in 2006 and has a growing community of alumni who are at the forefront of contemporary artistic practice in Australia.
Image: 2023–25 PAS Rydalmere Studio Artists, (from left to right): Owen Leong, Min Wong, Serwah Attafuah, Jodie Whalen, HOSSEI, and Billy Bain. Photo: Anna Kučera.
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