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Rick Leong, Goldstream, 2019. Collection Nick & Dale Tedeschi. -
Rick Leong, Wild Willow, 2019. Courtesy of Bradley Ertaskiran and the artist.
Cheryl Sim on Goldstream and Wild Willow
Transcript
Rick Leong is a third generation Chinese-Canadian born in Victoria, British Columbia. He describes himself as having a ‘bilingual’ vocabulary and style informed by Canadian landscape traditions and Classical Chinese painting, imagery, and symbols. Landscape is central to his inquiry, where the often large scale of his works allow us as viewers to immerse and insert ourselves into the scenery. Goldstream and Wild Willow evoke the constant transformation and impermanence of things, as seen in the interweaving of flora, fauna, water, and earth in these landscapes. The predominant blue makes reference to the British Blue Willow China pattern that provokes a reflection on the Western gaze. This blue also evokes the “magic hour”—the moment when everything is possible as day and night meet.
About Rick Leong
Rick Leong received his BFA from the University of Victoria (2003), and an MFA from Concordia University in Montreal (2007). His thesis work was acquired by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 2007. In 2008, he was a finalist in the Royal Bank of Canada’s Painting Competition, touring to the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; The Power Plant, Toronto; and Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver. Leong has participated in many group exhibitions at various Canadian and international spaces, including the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and Richmond Art Gallery. Solo exhibitions include Swell, Empty Gallery, Victoria; The Fourth Pleasure, Parisian Laundry, Montreal; and The Phenomenology of Dusk, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. He is represented by Bradley Ertaskiran in Montreal and is currently an Assistant Professor of Visual Arts at the University of Victoria. Leong’s work is collected widely across Canada, including in the collections of the ALDO Group, Canada Council Art Bank, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, and Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.