Mo Kong

Background

Mo Kong was born in 1989, in Shanxi, China.

Education

In 2015, Mo received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Rhode Island School of Design.

Career

Before turning his mind to art, Kong pursued investigative journalism. During his career, he exhibited his work internationally, including solo shows at Chashama Gallery, New York (2015), Artericambi Gallery, Venice, Italy (2017) and CUE Art Foundation, New York City (2019).

His group exhibitions include Gibney Dance Center, New York City (2015), Hillyer Art Space, Washington, D.C. (2015), Flux Factory, Long Island City, New York City (2015), A3 Gallery, Moscow, Russia (2017) and Spring Break Show, New York City (2018).

In addition, Mo acted as an artist-in-residence in numerous programs, including Mass Moca Studio Residency (2016), Vermont Studio Center (2016), Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture (2017) and Triangle Arts Association (2018).

Currently, Mo is residing in Brooklyn, New York City.

Achievements

• A well-known artist, Mo Kong is among the most of adroit observers of China’s industrialized, globalized and heavily censored condition. He gained prominence for his practice, that describes with uncommon precision the influence local politics have on geology, sociology and architecture in China and the resulting destruction of nature, social and emotional traumas, as well as negative effects on the human psyche.
  
  In 2017, the artist received a Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Fellowship, and the following year, in 2018, he obtained a Triangle Arts Association Fellowship.

Works

More photos

• artwork

  • Like Dark Cry In The Tears

  • Kids On My Shoulder When I was 321 Feet Deep

  • Die Prematurely

  • Heart Broken In The Deepest Room With Truth

  • Go-o-d

  • That night, I lost my homeland

  • Clue 2

• installation

  • I'm in death but can't reach the dark

  • Making a Stationary Rain on the North Pacific Ocean

  • Feel the Ice Boiling

  • Please be the world you promised you would be

  • Roundtable No. 2

  • Falling Into A Stalemate

  • Nightlight I

Views

Mo's work is trying to ask questions about current international political relations. Instead of directly talking about politics, the work is coded in geologic form and weather forecast narratives.

Mo's work is always deeply impacted by social events, coded by the "Educational information system", to post questions about the current politic environment. His research-led process usually takes the form of large scale installations, involving science research and multiple journalism perspectives, in which he challenges key issues of the day, using complex narratives. His work reconsiders the typologies of objects and established systems of knowledge.

Quotations: "I was born and raised in China. The constant awareness of censorship helped me encode my work as scientific research and environmental issues. Censorship serves as a method, rather than content in my work."

"From the perspective of journalism and the manipulation of mass media, I offer multiple subjective perspectives instead of an "objective" answer. These perspectives normally come from government statements, internet research and field studies."

"I don’t want my work to give an objective answer."