“During the 80s in New York, the artists Keith Haring, Basquiat, Warhol and others all had big identities so I decided to become the Frog King”
One of Hong Kong's most iconic and dynamic artists, Frog King (a.k.a Kwok Mang-ho, b.1947) is a pioneering conceptual and performance artist who has been breaking boundaries in Hong Kong and beyond since the late 1960s. Originally trained in ink painting and calligraphy in the studio of New Ink Painting master Lui Shou Kwan, he is one of the earliest Chinese contemporary artists to explore the use of ink painting as a conceptual tool, incorporating it as both action and material into multiple-media installations and performances. Frog King's unique blend of Eastern and Western philosophies, religions and concepts result in a multi-dimensional hybridity that is steeped in traditional training, whilst bringing a new and fresh outlook to his contemporary output.
Inspired by the world around him, Frog King's creations and performances are not bound by artistic formalities; the audience, artist, artwork and daily life are one. Through the philosophy of "Art is Life. Life is Art", Frog King uses everything as source material: conversations, restaurant menus, photographs, events, Hong Kong's districts and the endless comedic idioms that become lost in translation. He is a master of connecting people and cultures through the thread of levity and joyful explosions of laughter.
Since 1967, Frog King's art and performances have been presented at over 3000 exhibitions and art events worldwide, including for his project for the Hong Kong Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale. In December 2015, Hong Kong's M+ Museum for Live Art invited Frog King to recreate his 1979 "Plastic Bag Project" from the Great Wall, considered as the first ever piece of performance art in China. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors internationally and his work is collected by museums, foundations and private collectors globally, each of his works embodying his conceptual utopia.