MARK & MINKY.
November 15, 2009

Our friends Mark Ong and his wonderful wife Sue were in town for a quick whirlwind visit for the DC APAC sales conference. Mark and Sue stopped by the stores to check out mutual friend Sekure D's installation and show currently running in the gallery space.

Was nice catching up with the original AMKPK (Ang-Mo-Kio-Pai-Kia) as we hadn't seen him and Sue for a couple of years now. In any case, I admire the dedication Mark has put into his art, medium, and work over the past decade. Unlike others who have ebbed and flowed with the trends like the tide, Mark seems to have kept his work and aesthetic consistent over the years - no small feat in this industry.

Funny, Mark was wearing the exact same shirt as the last time we saw him in Singapore.

This is Minky Moo. I'm not entirely sure how to explain this character, aside from it being a figment of a 12 year old Ben Wong's imagination that has remained rather unedited over the past 10 years or so. Whatever Minky's purpose as a bipedal Bos Primigenius is, I'm not entirely sure, except that it's probably buried somewhere deep in Benjamin's psyche, right past the lyrics to bad rap and R&B tracks. Personally, I think it's a self-portrait or some type of projection, but never mind that for now. For one reason or another, Mark took a curious liking to Mr. Minky Moo, after being introduced to him by Benjamin during a visit to his atelier in Singapore a few years ago. Thus began the Minky Moo exchange program - where Benjamin would patiently and painstakingly recreate this complex character for Mark every time they met over the years.

Mark lost his most recent copy of Minky, so Benjamin prepared a special 2009 version for him. The Royalefam seal of approval.

Mark & Minky. <3