Never End: The Art and Life of Gaylord Chan

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Asia Society Hong Kong Center proudly presents Never End: The Art and Life of Gaylord Chan – the first retrospective since the late artist’s passing in 2020. 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 is 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.

Exhibition Catalogue

A bilingual exhibition catalogue will be published to mark ASHK’s exhibition. The catalogue includes three texts offering different insights into the late artist by Joyce Hei-ting Wong, exhibition curator; Ian Findlay-Brown, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; and Anthony Yung, Asia Art Archive Senior Researcher, as well as over 100 color reproductions of all exhibited artworks, over 50 personal photos, and other unpublished archival ephemera.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

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. He made his first serious foray into painting only at the age of 42 after enrolling in an extramural studies art course organized by the University of Hong Kong in 1968. Chan’s late start, however, did not at all limit his potential. While he worked as an engineer for Cable & Wireless by day, Chan continued to experiment and refine his creative practice. The artist eventually developed a unique abstract language of bold colors and rustic forms that reflects on the simple wonders of daily life, science and metaphysics, and the contemporary human condition.

Winner of many accolades, including Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1985 and a Bronze Bauhinia Star from the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2013, Chan co-founded the Hong Kong Visual Arts Society in 1974, the Culture Corner Art Academy in 1989, and Artmatch Group in 1995. He also served as the museum expert advisor for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department since 1993.