Cusson Cheng on queer narratives, the problem with labels and the challenge of curating art.
Every week, artist and entrepreneur Oscar Venhuis talks with fellow artists, curators, collectors and gallerists in Asia. The Last Supper podcast is available on Spotify, Apple podcast, Google podcast.
Cusson Cheng, art curator of Retrograde
Episode 19 | Cusson Cheng, the curator of Retrograde at Galerie du Monde in Hong Kong, talked about how he developed his exhibition, how he navigated the labyrinth of labels and we discussed the works at his show. We also talked about the narratives behind some of the pieces and the questions that art curators needed to address.
Cusson Cheng is a curator and art critic from Hong Kong. He has been Assistant Curator at Para Site since January 2021, where he has worked on exhibitions including Curtain (2021), Liquid Ground (2021), Noble Rot (2021–2022), and Minding the G(r)a(s)p (2022). He was invited by Galerie du Monde to curate ‘Retrograde’, a group exhibition on queer and sexual politics that opened in June 2022. He is currently organising his first major exhibition at Para Site, which will open in late 2022.
He was also one of the candidates for the 2019 Para Site International Conference & Workshops for Emerging Professionals. In addition to his curatorial work, Cheng serves as Art Editor at the Hong Kong-based leading Chinese-language art periodical Art and Piece (美紙).
He has interviewed internationally renowned artists, including Marina Abramović, Pipilotti Rist, Daniel Arsham, Nicolas Party, and Genieve Figgis. He is frequently invited by galleries and organizations to write exhibition reviews, including Korean artist Lee Bae's solo presentation at Perrotin, Hong Kong. Cheng received his BA with Honours in comparative literature, sociology, and Buddhist studies from the University of Hong Kong.
Retrograde, Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
Exhibition Period: 16 June - 13 August 2022
Participating Artists:
Ivana Bašić, Jes Fan, Dew Kim, Green Mok, Naraphat Sakarthornsap, Tseng Chien-Ying, Floryan Varennes, Luis Xertu, Xu Guanyu, Rachel Youn, Stella Zhang
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'The Last Supper' is produced and hosted by Oscar Venhuis | Instagram @thelastsupper.asia
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