Exhibition tour — Two houses: Politics and histories in the contemporary art collections of John Chia and Yeap Lam Yang

Join curators Bala Starr and Melanie Pocock and John Chia and Yeap Lam Yang for a tour of the exhibition Two houses: Politics and histories in the contemporary art collections of John Chia and Yeap Lam Yang.

John Chia and Yeap Lam Yang have assembled significant collections of contemporary art over 20 and 30 years respectively. The catalyst for Two houses was the companionable relationship between the younger Dr Chia and his friend and mentor, Mr Yeap. Both belong to a new group of art collectors in Southeast Asia whose partnerships have enlarged the reach of contemporary artists' practices beyond the independent studio and gallery and helped foster alternative art-historical narratives. 

The exhibition explores themes of civic life-social justice, labour politics, human rights and nationhood-through 40 works or groups of works made by 35 artists between 1986 and 2018. It is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with texts by 19 authors.

Supported by

Cover image: Wong Hoy Cheong, Detention Oct. 1987, 1989, oil on canvas sack, 213 x 147 x 3 cm (approx.) © Courtesy the artist. Photo: Joe Nair