Getting between the Covers

HEMAN Chong might have started out in his career as a video artist, in the early 2000s; and gained recognition as a multi-media artist and a conceptual one. These days however, he's better known as a painter, of imagined book covers.

In fact, this series has done so well that the sales have been able to support him as a full-time artist, since he started this series as Cover (Versions) in 2009. He's done 338 paintings to date, and this series has proven to be the "magic formula" that balances creativity and commercial viability.

"You don't get it, do you," he chides gently, when asked how many times he's held exhibitions of the same series (countless) and whether there are unsold pieces, which one assumes he incorporates into new series. His current series - Of Indeterminate Time or Occurrence - is now showing at Fost Gallery.