Life of Imitation
- Artist: Ming Wong
- Date: 2009
- Medium: 4 paintings, acrylic paint on canvas
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is Life of Imitation by Ming Wong. The piece is a set of four acrylic billboards that expand the fictional world of his 2009 video installation, also titled Life of Imitation. The canvases mimic hand‑painted posters from Singapore’s golden age of cinema in the 1950s and 60s, when a movie’s release was a communal event announced on large, colourful billboards. Wong’s paintings echo that era, blending characters from the film with key quotes, turning the advertising format into a playful, critical dialogue about identity and imitation. The work was acquired in 2022 with funds from the Asia‑Pacific Acquisitions Committee. Though it was originally shown alongside a double video projection, the four posters stand alone as a statement on the role of film in shaping public imagination. They remind us that advertising and art often share the same goal: to capture attention and spark conversation.
See it in person
Life of Imitation is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
