Leong Chi Mou moved to Macau from Guangdong in 2003. He has an innate talent for painting since childhood when he learned Chinese painting techniques from TV programs. After he moved to Macau, he was influenced by Western art. He used Chinese and Western painting elements of the Italian artist Giuseppe Castiglione and began the “Blue Gold series” in “The Heyday Series” during the graduation period at the Macau Polytechnic Department of Visual Arts, majoring in oil painting. Leong Chi Mou is deeply interested in the fusion of Chinese and Western art. His vision of art is not merely on the individual level, but is a reflection of his own situation projected onto the thinking of local culture and identity. The blue melancholy and the golden luxury of the “Blue Gold series” are inspired from his reflection on Macau. Giuseppe Castiglione’s integration of Western aesthetics into Chinese traditional painting was used in the context of “fake Chinese painting” created by Leong Chi Mou. It is a form of hidden irony of the so-called “Chinese-Western fusion.” After that, this kind of satire goes further on the basis of his technical maturity. The “Alchemist Project” displayed in the current exhibition points directly to the recent forecast of the International Monetary Fund Organization, referring in the year 2020, Macau’s per capita GDP will be elevated to the highest position of the world. In response to this, Leong Chi Mou has produced a magnified coin and a black gold credit card with no market value. He uses the technique of repeating the popular culture in Pop Art to satirize the values of today’s society. Just like his previous “Blue Gold series”, he questions, can the art of imitation, embezzlement and copying be able to stand the test of the so-called “market”? The exquisiteness of his works is so enticing, is it a deliberate act? Or is it a joke with black humor? One smiles knowingly.
Excerpt From Surging Waves – Macau AFA 11th Anniversary Exhibition of Post-90s – Perface http://www.afamacau.com/CNEXHIBITION_XQ.ASPX?exhibition=386
梁子毛於2003年從廣東移居澳門，自幼對畫畫有與生俱來的才華，從電視節目中學習國畫的技法，後來移居澳門，受到西方藝術的衝擊，他挪用意大利畫家郎世寧畫中的中西畫元素，於澳門理工視覺藝術系油畫學士畢業時期開始了《景世泰寧》之藍金系列。梁子毛對於中西方藝術之融合深感興趣，他對藝術的願景不只是個人，而是從自身的處境投射到一個地方的文化與身分認同的思考當中。藍金系列的藍色憂鬱與金色的紙醉金迷，就是來自他對澳門的反思。然後郎世寧把西方美學結合到中國國畫上的作法，被他挪用到如今一種「假國畫」的語境之中，是對所謂「中西融合」的一種隱性的諷刺。而後，這種諷刺在他於技法的成熟基礎上更進一步，是次展出的《交子計劃》（交子：中國最早的紙幣），直指最近國際貨幣基金會的預測，指2020年，澳門人均GDP將晉升為全球首位。於是梁子毛直接製作了沒有市值的放大硬幣和黑金信用卡，以Pop Art中把流行文化重複放大的手法，來諷刺當今社會的價值觀。正如他所創作的藍金系列，他在質問，利用模仿、挪用、複製這些手法「創作」出來的藝術品，能經得起所謂「市場」的考驗嗎？他作品所呈現的精美度是如此誘人，是點石成金？還是「認真你就輸了」？他的黑色幽默，讓人會心一笑。
節錄於 澳門全藝社十一週年90後會員作品展 – 前言 http://www.afamacau.com/CNEXHIBITION_XQ.ASPX?exhibition=386