Isaac Chong Wai’s (b.1990; works in Berlin and Hong Kong) artistic practice integrates conceptual, political, and performative elements through an interdisciplinary approach, engaging with the urgency of societal changes and global phenomena. Chong transforms the emotions, tensions, and memories from human interactions into performative materiality and immersive experiences.

In his broad spectrum of works, the artist delves into power relations by exploring both the physical and theoretical boundaries of the body. Navigating the struggles between the individual and the collective, he examines the vulnerability of the body and the inherent violence within social systems and historical traumas. His subtle, poetic, yet critical works infiltrate the systems of meaning, inviting viewers to reexamine their perceptions of power, violence, and fragility.

Isaac Chong Wai (b. 1990) is a participating artist in this year’s 60th Venice Biennale, Foreigners Everywhere, curated by Adriano Pedrosa. Also this year, Chong received the Art Prize of the City of Nordhorn 2024, a prize awarded since 1979 to artists who have attracted attention with a fresh and nationally significant body of work. 

Chong's recent exhibitions include the Bangkok Art Biennale, Bangkok 2024 and the Biennale Sesc_Videobrasil, São Paolo 2023. His works have been exhibited at prestigious venues including the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn, the MMCA in Seoul, IFFR in Rotterdam, MOCA in Taipei, and M+ in Hong Kong. His works are represented in renowned collections, including the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Berlin, where the works were included in the Museum’s revised permanent exhibition, which opened in 2023; in Germany’s Bundeskunstsammlung; in Kadist, Paris and San Francisco; and in the Burger Collection, Hong Kong. He was awarded the New York Désirée & Hans Michael Jebsen Fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council and was a fellow of the Tarabya Cultural Academy. In 2024, the Tagesspiegel named Chong one of the TOP 100 personalities in Berlin’s culture scene.

Isaac Chong Wai studied Fine Arts at the Hong Kong Baptist University and Art in Public Space and New Artistic Strategies at the Bauhaus University in Weimar. He lives and works in Berlin and Hong Kong.