It’s Been a While, and I’m Finally Here…

Wei-Ling Gallery is pleased to present Tang Tze Lye’s first solo exhibition. Tang Tze Lye was one of the two artists who participated in the first edition of the WLG Incubator Young Artists Mentorship Program in 2020. The WLG Incubator is an initiative by Wei-Ling Galleries that was launched as a platform to highlight and collaborate on projects with emerging Malaysian artists. It is dedicated to help artists create a sustainable art practice, which allows them to develop their confidence towards making art that is authentic, experimental and progressive. Through this Incubator, the gallery hopes to discover and nurture artists and projects, which are critical towards shaping the voice of the next generation.

The WLG Young Artists Collaborative Mentorship Program is a WLG Incubator program that provides the opportunity for emerging artists to be advised and guided by an established artist. The program was launched through research conducted to identify the next generation of young progressive artists from Malaysia. Over a six-month program, these selected artists worked with an established artist as their mentor to discuss, research, explore, experiment, and develop new concepts. This platform aims to provide a safe space for these artists to express the challenges they face in their professional and artistic practices, as well as to support them in the aspects that they choose to develop further. The results were presented through the WLG Incubator Young Artists Show at Wei-Ling Contemporary, serving as a channel to introduce their work of art to a wider audience – followed by a solo presentation by each artist.

This new series is a culmination of Tze Lye’s experimentations surrounding the themes that he has always been drawn to: the body, queer identities, and beauty. The main artworks, taking form as a combination between painting and sculptures, once again express one’s journey of finding his true identity. Once again, pink is a colour that predominates this series, as it not only represents femininity, but also serves as a sign of birth and power, which the artist uses to challenge conventional views surrounding gender. The series also sees the artist evolving, pushing the boundaries of both painting and sculpture, by adopting ready-made materials such as plastic containers and tissue rolls, inspired by the mundanity of life under the lockdown. To the artist, there is something poetic behind transforming these everyday objects into sculptures, as it mirrors the repetition and meditative process that marks his practice and life.