Alisan Fine Arts is delighted to announce Journey into Nature, the 4th solo exhibition for the Chinese-American sculptor and installation artist, Ming Fay, at our Central space. On display will be some of Ming Fay's works that will be introduced to the Hong Kong audience for the first time. These include the wishbone series, the Tai Chi figure series, and early sketches that inspired his famous fruit sculptures. Other iconic works, such as the money tree branch and larger than life fruits, nuts and surrealist vegetables will also be displayed. The exhibition can be seen as an expansion of Ming Fay's large-scale installation themed Garden of Life at Art Basel Hong Kong 2022, where viewers were invited into an unconventional Edenic utopia.
During this exhibition, the white cube gallery space will be transformed into a surreal garden, once again, providing an immersive experience that is even more joyful for the audience, with a larger exhibition space and the exclusive spotlight on one artist this time. The diversity of work that will be displayed traces Fay's career from the 1980s to now and can be viewed as a mini retrospective.
In addition to the display of artworks, a 400-page-monograph of Fay's life and work will be launched in conjunction with the exhibition.
Ming Fay is a Shanghai-born and New York-based sculptor, installation artist and professor. His work focuses on the concept of the garden as a symbol of utopia and the relationship between people and nature. Today he is well known for his large fruit sculptures and mixed media installations. His whimsical yet culturally poignant sculptures are made out of bronze or papier-mâché and often presented in a highly sophisticated way. Born in 1943 into a family of artists, he immigrated to Hong Kong in 1952 where he completed his secondary education. In 1961, the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio awarded him a full scholarship to study design. After graduating in 1965, he worked in a design studio before he discovered his true passion, sculpture. He obtained a BFA degree in sculpture from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1967 and a MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1970. Since then he has resided in New York and devoted himself to his sculptural work. Throughout his career Fay has been an active teacher and has taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Polytechnic, Columbus College of Art and Design, Pratt Institute, the William Paterson College, and University of Pittsburgh. In 2007 he was the recipient of the NYFA fellowship in Sculpture. Fay is a member on the board of Directors of the Alternative Museum, The Chinese American Arts Council, The Chinese Information and Culture Center, and the overseas Chinese Renaissance Society.
Co-founded in the 1980s by Alice King, Alisan Fine Arts is Hong Kong’s longest-standing contemporary gallery, celebrated for its trailblazing promotion of Chinese contemporary art and New Ink art. The gallery has consistently championed artists from the Greater China region and Chinese diaspora, making an impact on cross-cultural dialogues and global appreciation of diverse artistic expressions.
