Born in 1974, Singapore, Max Kong graduated from RMIT University, Australia with a degree in Fine Arts and a Masters of Fine Arts degree from LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. Highly acclaimed for his process and innovation, he is a recipient of many awards including the Platinum Award of the 28th UOB Painting of the Year Competition and Certificate of Distinction from Philippe Charriol Foundation. Max's work has been featured in international art fairs in Singapore, Korea and Japan and are part of prominent private and public collections including the Singapore Art Museum and K.K. Women and Children's Hospital. Over the last 15 years, the artist has exhibited his works extensively in Singapore, Korea, Japan, Thailand, China and New York and has been featured on prominent news media such as Channel News Asia and Newsweek magazine.

Inspired by the process of “How to Paint” instead of “What to Paint,” Max’s abstract painting investigates the notion of speed in relation to his customization of tools and mediums. He challenges the paradigm of conventional painting by exploring alternative methodologies and materials through metaphysical involvements in painting. In addition, aside from the elements of chance and its aesthetics, Max constructs surfaces that constitute the process as painting. 

Max Kong paints directly on the canvas and regards it as an interactive process rather than a straightforward, structured approach. He starts at will and lets his subconscious take over, enjoying the aesthetic value of accidental effects which cannot be achieved by careful planning. It is in this unsophisticated and honest expression that the viewer's heart is enthralled - the art lives and speaks for itself. "The process of my painting is based on dripping fluid paint onto the canvas, mainly inspired by raindrops flowing downward on a window panel. Fascinated with the flow of liquid, I explore the process of dripping fluid paint onto the canvas. The courses of running lines were taken over by the forces of nature immediately. A line is created by gravity in an instant. I occasionally steer the canvas to maintain the course when necessary. The fortuitous courses of running lines are the only obvious traces left after the completion of a painting. My lines are created by a combination of chance and manipulation. The colours are based on my actual visual experience with a touch of subjective imagination." - Kong on the concept of Collective Lines Series Paintings (2004) 

Awards

2010
Singapore Finalist, THE 2010 Sovereign Asian Art Prize 

2009
Platinum Award – Open Section, The 28th UOB Painting of the Year Competition 2009 

2007
Highly Commended – Open Section, The 26th UOB Painting of the Year Competition 2007 

2006
LASALLE-SIA Scholarship – For MA Studies, LASALLE-SIA College of Arts, Singapore 

2005 
Highly Commended – Open Section, The 24th UOB Painting of the Year Competition 2005 

2004 
Certificate of Distinction – Open Section, The 23 UOB Painting of the Year Competition 2004 

2003
Honorable Mention,  Phillip Morries Singapore -ASEAN Art Awards 2003 

2002
National Art Council Arts Bursary Award (Local) 

1998
2nd Prize in Open Category-Red Ribbon Awards
ART AGAINST AIDS Competition/Exhibition, Certificate of Merit
ARTQUEST Nation-wide Art Competition

1997
Certificate of Participation, Study Tour to Edinburgh, Art Exhibition
Certificate of Participation, 19th Shell Discovery Art
NAFA Merit Award - Excellent Academic Performance 

1996 
Kampong Glam Diploma Art Scholarship Award
National Art Council Arts Bursary Award
NAFA Merit Award - Excellent Academic Performance, Certificate of Distinction
Philippe Charriol Foundation Certificate of Merit, The Della Butcher Award 

1995 NAFA Bursary Award

2012                 
Notion of Light, Gallery Shimada, Kobe, Japan 

2011                 
Circle of Light, +case Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
35° of Light, Art-2 Gallery, Singapore
Rising Sun, Gallery Edel, Takarazuka, Japan 

2010                 
Max Kong Solo Exhibition at Gallery Edel, Gallery Edel, Takarazuka, Japan 

2009                 
One Day Forest, Tanglin Camp, Singapore
A Solo Exhibition by Max Kong, Galerie Dauphin, Singapore
Max Kong Solo Exhibition, Ishida Teisensha Hall, Kyoto, Japan 

2008                 
Rain, Studio Miu Window Gallery, Singapore 

2007                 
Systematic Inspired Paintings, Studio Miu Window Gallery, L’escalier Artist’s loft, Singapore 

2006                 
Max Kong Solo Exhibition, Ode to Art Gallery, Singapore
Enigmatic Inspired Paintings, Studio Miu Window Gallery, Singapore 

2005                 
Max Kong Solo Exhibition, Sentosa Artist Village Gallery, Singapore

The Art of Max Kong - Dr. Sian E. Jay, Art Critic 
 
Max is one of Singapore's fastest emerging artists, his work popping up in the most unexpected places - probably because his work 'speaks' to so many people on so many levels. Ironically Max is not altogether interested in the finished product, working instead from the premise that it is of greater relevance to focus on "How to Paint" instead of "What to Paint". And the painting technique is indeed unusual.

Using a series of customized tools and painting media, Max embarks on the creation of abstract imagery that is quickly and almost subconsciously executed. It is his fascination with his process that has led to him embarking on his ongoing exploration of "how to paint" using process-oriented tools.

In many ways it could be argued that the methodology employed by the artist, is induced by the fast-paced society in which he lives - it reflects the way he responds to the world around him. His works are purely spontaneous, unplanned. They are the outcome of dragging and overlapping paint media across a surface using one of his customized tools. The resulting canvas invariably leaves the 'scars' of the process as evidence of 'how' it was painted. The results are remarkably open, leaving the viewer to deconstruct and decode the artist's method.

Working as a full time artist, spending weeks on end in his studio, Max finds that the continuous process of painting influences and informs the way he works - series after series of imagery emerges, always different, always evolving. His process of working challenges the paradigms of conventional painting through his exploration of alternative methodologies and materials. The process inevitably introduces elements of chance as the surfaces that become the paintings emerge.

One of his favorite media is cement; he took his inspiration from the cement screeds used on the walls of architecture. What is so startling about the cement paintings is the way they convey a sense of movement and fluidity, and have continued to inspire the artist. When working with cement, Max confesses that the material dominates the process through the creation of rhythm and spontaneity as he applies cement to the surface of the canvas. It is the material and process that define the final aesthetics.

If the form and outline of the painting is the result of unconscious process, the finish is very much one of conscious control. He applies hundreds of white dots to the surface as a rational, almost mathematical process. Placed in ordered, regular intervals across the surface of the image, the final painting emerges, the artist creates regularity and order to an otherwise chaotic process.