Albert Chong (born 1958) is an artist of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n and

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

descent. Chong works across medias and has produced series of photographs as well as installations and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

s. He states that the purpose of much of his art is to "represent and reanimate his family history.""About The Artist"
Albert Chong.com. Retrieved 7 August 2008. He has said that he uses his family heritage as "an alternative way of putting more out there that's about people of color, letting other stories be heard, other viewpoints".

Early life

Chong was born in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, in 1958. His parents ran a grocery store and his father was a well-respected justice of the peace. His multicultural heritage is described in an

L.A. times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

article: "Half-Chinese, half- Jamaican Chong was raised

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

but has followed

Rastafari Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...

, the

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

-inspired political/religious movement, and Santeria, the syncretic religion forged by African

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

living under Christian domination in the Caribbean." The article also relates an episode from Chong's early childhood, wherein his father brought both a Catholic priest and an Obeahman

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

to bless a new house they had bought in Jamaica. Chong immigrated permanently to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1977, settling first with his sisters in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He attended the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

from 1978 to 1981, and in 1981, Chong started his exhibiting career.Hemmings, Brad T.
"Albert Chong - Caribbean Hall of Fame"
Caribbean Hall of Fame. Retrieved 8 August 2008. In 1988, his family moved to

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, and Chong attended the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

. In 1991, Chong received his Master of Fine Arts degree from that university.Guh, Jessica
"Albert Chong"
Stanford Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University. Retrieved 7 August 2008.

Artwork

Chong works across art medias, primarily in photography, installation, and sculpture. The content of the work deals with mysticism, spirituality, race and identity, as well as investigating the inherent value in images and objects. Chong’s best known bodies of work are black and white still life photographs.

Notable series

These links lead to galleries on Chong's official website.
Black-and-white
an
color
still lifes, which have been described by the artist as "performances in a way, too," with the assembling of objects "as a sacred ritual act, a gathering together of objects of power".
Thrones Series

Projections

I-Traits (Self-Portraits)
which according to the L.A. Times, are "named for the Rastafarian belief that the eye and the 'I' are profoundly linked means of perception".

Teaching

Chong lives in the

and has taught at several different colleges and universities. From 1982 to 1988, he taught at the

in New York City; from 1989 to 1991 at

Mira Costa College MiraCosta College is a public community college serving coastal Northern San Diego County in California with two campuses, one in eastern Oceanside and the other in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, and many satellite locations, including the Community Le ...

Oceanside, California Oceanside is a beach city in the North County (San Diego area), North County area of San Diego County, California, United States. The city had a population of 174,068 at the 2020 United States census, making it the most populous city in the Nort ...

; and from 1996 to 1997 at the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. Currently Chong teaches at The University of Colorado Boulder, in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

Awards

Chong has been awarded a number of prestigious awards for his work. In 1992 he was awarded an individual artist fellowship from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

. In 1998 he was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, and later that same year he was awarded a

Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing funding to visual artists internationally to further their artistic practices. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expr ...

Grant.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chong, Albert Jamaican artists 1958 births Living people Jamaican emigrants to the United States Artists from Kingston, Jamaica American artists of Chinese descent School of Visual Arts alumni University of California, San Diego alumni School of Visual Arts faculty Rhode Island School of Design faculty National Endowment for the Arts Fellows