Gaylord Chan /
Never End: The Art and Life of Gaylord Chan /
Jun 19 – Sep 29, 2024 /
Chantal Miller Gallery
Asia Society Hong Kong Center
9 Justice Drive, Admiralty, Hong Kong
Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 6pm
Last Thursday of every month: 11am – 8pm
Closed on Monday
Free admission
Widely respected and beloved as one of Hong Kong’s most original painters, Gaylord Chan (1925-2020) had a dynamic career that traversed cultural epochs and broke the boundaries of medium. The exhibition will celebrate Gaylord Chan’s artistic legacy with over 100 artworks alongside never seen before historical footage from the different stages of his life. The exhibition will be presented in four sections which examine Chan’s unique practice and creativity.
(I) “The Grammar of Painting” explores Chan’s role as an artist and educator. Centered on his “fifteen-word truth” on painting, this section features a selection of works spanning the 1960s to 2000s that explore the essential elements of the artist’s visual language and offer the audience ways to decipher his inventive brand of abstraction.
(II) “Glyphs of Innocence and Experience” focuses on how Chan expressed emotions and ideas through symbolism. With artworks featuring the artist’s signature motifs, this section will explore Chan’s unique worldview and how he was inspired by folk and indigenous artifacts from different cultures.
(III) “Seeing Between the Colors” highlights Chan’s mature use of color and layering to explore different spatial compositions and visual perceptions. With a selection of works created after his painting residency at the New York School of Visual Arts in 1992, this section will also feature Chan’s little-known poetry alongside his imaginative and poetic canvases.
(IV) “From Canvas to Screen” exhibits a wealth of digital drawings by Chan including over 30 never-before-exhibited artworks. After suffering from a stroke and lung cancer, Chan transitioned to using Microsoft Paint to create art from the 2000s onwards. This section explores how Chan adapted his practice from the analogue to the digital in his later works.
Featuring valuable loans from the artist estate, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, and nine local and overseas private collections, this exhibition is organized by guest curator Joyce Hei-ting Wong with the guidance of exhibition consultant Josephine Chow Suk Fan alongside Hain Yoon, Assistant Curator of Asia Society Hong Kong Center.
A bilingual exhibition catalogue is available to mark the exhibition. During the exhibition, ASHK is hosting multiple events and programmes to pay tribute to the late artist, which includes art workshops for children and elderly, monthly art salon programmes, art healing and AI interactive docent tours.
