Whitestone Gallery Taipei is currently presenting "Alternate Reality: Southeast Asian Exhibition" a group show that explores diverse perceptions of reality through the works of artists from Southeast Asia

Vietnamese artist Le Quy Tong, born in Hanoi in 1977, is a first-generation post-war artist who grew up experiencing Vietnam's turbulent period of transformation firsthand. Living in the digital age, he tackles the question of how we remember history through his unique artistic approach. Through this exhibition, we delve into his journey of creative exploration.

Whitestone Gallery Taipei | Le Quy Tong “No.8 - True Gold - Dreamer” 2019, 180.0 × 130.0cm, Oil and acrylic on canvas

Le Quy Tong was born in 1977 in Hanoi, among the first of the post-war generation, and grew up during a period of substantial change in Vietnam: namely, the introduction of the market economy in 1986 and the global Internet since 1997. The latter was a revelatory experience for him and changed how he viewed history and value systems. In the past decade, his artistic practice has been mostly influenced and informed by press images found on the Internet – every working phase corresponded to his research on a specific historical period and reflected through each of his exhibitions since 2015.

Whitestone Gallery Taipei | Le Quy Tong “No.4 - True Gold - Dreamer” 2019, 180.0 × 130.0cm, Oil and acrylic on canvas

The paintings chosen for this show in Taipei are part of a series called Dreamers (2017 – 2023), which revolves around thuyền nhân (Vietnamese boat people) and the Revolutions of 1989, and featured in the show Neo-Romanticism (2023). He considers this phase of his to be an exploration of the existence and transformation of Second World countries’ guiding ideologies – every painting is a puzzle piece, each reflecting parts of his evolving perception of it during the research process. The paintings’ visual presentations came from manipulating found images on Photoshop, usually through vertical tilting, stretching/shrinking, mirroring, changing the originals to negatives, and enlarging pixelated dots to partly blur its form, accompanied with materials evoking gold and silver – all of these elements recreate the process of revelation in a place where history was represented in a one-sided perspective.

Whitestone Gallery Taipei

Le Quy Tong is a contemporary artist who grew up during Vietnam's tumultuous post-war period and continues to challenge one-sided historical perspectives through his memories of boat people and revolution, while merging digital technology with traditional materials. Chen Sai Hua Kuan offers an art experience woven from sound and elements of everyday life, Imhathai Suwatthanasilp explores gender and existentialism through human hair, Nurrachmat Widyasena demonstrates an artistic approach in Indonesia's space development, and Maharani Mancanagara depicts her grandfather's political experiences in charcoal drawings. Each artist presents their own "alternate reality" through unique approaches.

Alternate Reality: Southeast Asian Exhibition