Wong Kit Yi

Wong Kit Yi (Chinese: 黃潔宜) is a conceptual and performance artist who lives and works between Hong Kong and New York. She is known for her research-based projects, which blends art with science.

Wong was born in Hong Kong in 1983 and raised in the New Territories, a rural region of Hong Hong. She received a BA from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and an MFA from Yale University, where she studied closely with Jessica Stockholder and Jim Hodges. She currently teaches New Media and Film at the State University of New York at Purchase.

Wong Kit Yi works through the mediums of video, sculpture, and performance. Exploring biological answers to metaphysical questions, she deals with odd scientific findings and the dysfunctional relationships between what is considered science and pseudoscience. Her interests include genetics, DNA technology, mythology, Japanese manga, models of ownership/leasing, trade history and the biology of aging and immortality. Wong investigates the dynamics of ownership, working with such ideas as patron collaboration, and the 99-year leases for her artworks. Her recent films are structured in the artist's signature karaoke-inspired sing-along format, switching between documentary and music-video-style content.

Solo exhibitions

• Magic Wands, Batons and DNA Splicers, at Art Basel Hong Kong (2018).
• what if: my window animates you, at ART021 Shanghai (2017).
• Futures, Again, P!, New York (2017).
• Sandwich Theory: convertible painting series, a.m. space, Hong Kong (2016).
• North Pole Futures , K. gallery, New York (2015).

Group exhibitions

• Bicycle Thieves, Para Site, Hong Kong (2019)
• Peer to Peer, Surplus Space, Wuhan, China (2018).
• Seven Senses, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York (2018).
• In Search of Miss Ruthless, Para Site, Hong Kong (2017).
• Survival Kit 9, the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, Riga, Latvia (2017).
• On Life’s Way, Oil Street, Hong Kong (2015).
• Bringing the World into the World, Queens Museum, New York (2014).
• The Ceiling Should Be Green, P!, NY (2013)

Catalogues

• Magic Wands, Batons and DNA Splicers (2018), published by a.m.space, Hong Kong
• Wong Kit Yi: North Pole Future (2015), published by K., New York

Reviews

• Bailey, Stephanie. “Field Meeting Take 6: Thinking Collections,” Ocula, Feb 1, 2019.
• Chu, Chloe. “Profile of Wong Kit Yi,” ArtAsiaPacific, issue 110, Sept/Oct, 2018.
• Chan, Hera. “A Lifetime Guaranteed: Based of the Works of Wong Kit Yi,” LEAP (English), May 29, 2018.
• Chan, Hera. “Inevitable Immortality—Magic Wands, Batons and DNA Splicers,” LEAP (Chinese), May 11, 2018.
• Tsui, Enid. “Art Basel in Hong Kong: city’s small galleries shine through with memorable displays,” South China Morning Post, April 4, 2018.
• Basu, Chitralekha (March 30, 2018). "Fair Value for Viewers". ChinaDaily.
• Gaskin, Sam. “Art021 and West Bund Art & Design wrestle for dominance,” Ocula, Nov 17, 2017.
• Kafka. “In Search of Miss Ruthless,” Hong Kong Economic Journal, Aug 15, 2017.
• Cheung, Karen. “In Search of Miss Ruthless,” ArtAsiaPacific, Aug 2017.
• Tsui, Enid. “Hong Kong art show on beauty pageants, In Search of Miss Ruthless, explores themes surrounding the contests,” South China Morning Post, July 26, 2017.
• Tsang, Hiu Ling. “In Search of Miss Ruthless,” Ming Pao, July 7, 2017.
• Duffy, Owen. “Wong Kit Yi at P!, New York,”  ArtReview, May 2017.
• Brokaw-Falbo, Harper. “Wong Kit Yi // Futures, Again // P!, New York,” Dissolve, April 19, 2017.
• “Wong Kit Yi at P!,” Contemporary Art Daily, April 10, 2017.
• Wong, Mimi. “Futures, Again,” ArtAsiaPacific, April 3, 2017.
• White, Roger. “Sightlines,” Art in America, February 2017.
• Helmke, Juliet. “Next Stop, Svalbard!” Modern Painters, July/August 2015.
• “Wheel of philanthropic fortune,” The Art Newspaper, May 16, 2015.
• “Wong Kit Yi at K,” Art in America, April 30, 2015.
• Salemy Mohammad. “Can Financialization Offer art an Exit from Contemporary Art,” e-flux, April 9, 2015.
• Tan, Berny. “Ali Wong and Wong Kit Yi: Every System Breaks,” Asymptote, Feb 1, 2015.
• Smith, Roberta. “If Seeing Is Believing, a Panorama of Truth,” New York Times, June 19, 2014.
• Morgan, Robert. “The Ceiling Should Be Green at P! Gallery,”Asian Art News, March/April 2014.
• The Ceiling Should Be Green: A Conversation with Wong Kit Yi and Mel Bochner,” Asian Art Archive in America, Dec 19, 2013.
• Dawson, Jessica. “Feng Shui Curating at P!,” Art in America, November 8, 2013.