Artist Biography
Jimmy Ong (b. 1964, Singapore, based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia) investigates themes relating to identity, the body and the social relationships of an individual. Working primarily in drawing, Ong’s references are personal and cultural, ranging from his own experiences to gender archetypes rooted in the mythological and historical events of colonial Southeast Asia.
Ong’s early works were made in 1980s Singapore, marked by state policing of queer spaces as part of a broader criminalisation of homosexuality. His large-scale, figurative charcoal drawings explored the tensions surrounding gender identities and roles within traditional Chinese family structures. Since the 2010s, Ong’s practice has expanded to include video works like Sangam (2012), which examines gender representation in Indonesian folklore, and mixed-media installations like Seamstresses’ Rafflesses (2015)—a series of cotton effigies modelled after Thomas Stamford Raffles, serving as a symbolic act of retribution for colonial violence in Singapore and Java.
Ong obtained his BFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1992. His work is held in numerous collections including the National Gallery Singapore; NUS Museum, Singapore; and Singapore Art Museum.
Notable exhibitions include A beast, a god, a line (2018), Para Site, Hong Kong; A beast, a god, a line (2018), Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw; Spectrosynthesis – Asian LGBTQ Issues and Art Now (2017), Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei; Siapa Nama Kamu? (2015), National Gallery Singapore; Recent Gifts (2013), NUS Museum, Singapore; Singapore Short Cuts 10 (2013), National Museum of Singapore, Singapore; Vision & Resonance (2005), Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore; and The Invisible Thread (2004), Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island. The artist has also participated in major international festivals including the 4th Dhaka Art Summit (2018), Indonesia Encounters the Arab Region (2013), 12th Biennale Jogja, Yogyakarta; and Nature Born (2006), Langgeng Contemporary Art Festival, Magelang.
Ong had his residency at the STPI Workshop in 2010, resulting in the exhibition SGD (2010).