清影

Chen Dongfan (b. 1982, Shandong Prov. China)

Chen Dongfan graduated from the China Academy of Art in 2008. The artist presently works and resides between New York and Hangzhou. Chen’s painting practice entails a multitude of experimentation, encompassing various forms and themes, incorporating concept, action and site, among various other elements, taking these as means to substantiate a both complex and robust system of practice. The artist’s easel based painting manifests two clear practical trajectories. In the first, narrative themes and a naiveté of form are deployed to express insights into a lived reality; in the second, both expressive and abstract forms serve to uncover potentialities within painterly discourse. His practice also encompasses works produced for public space, along with collaborative happenings incorporating live painting, music and performance.

His recent exhibitions include: “Rhythm”(OōEli POP-UP Gallery,Hangzhou,2021);“Long Past Dawn, Pirates and Poets Whistle in the Dark”( Fou Gallery, New York ,2020); “Forgotten Letters 2020”(Platform China Contemporary Art Institute,Beijing 2020) ; “Sanctuary” (Yeh Art Gallery of St. John University, New York, 2020); “Portrait” (Inna Art Space, Hangzhou/New York, 2019); “Nevermore” (Fou Gallery, New York, 2018); “Heated Bloom” (Inna Art Space, Hangzhou, 2017); “You Know My Name, Not My Story” (Fou Gallery, New York, 2017); “Child Wants to be a King not an Artist” (Inna Art Space, Hangzhou, 2015); “So Sweet” (Inna Art Space, Hangzhou, 2012).

Chen Dongfan has actively participated in various public art projects and has created large scale paintings around the globe, including “Sun Yat-sen Road in Color” (New York, 2020); “The Song of Dragon and Flowers” (New York, 2018); “Live Before You Die” (Greece, 2016); “Where Has Happiness Gone” (Hangzhou, 2011); “Uncertain” (Hangzhou, 2010). “Chen Dongfan Open Studio” was included as an official event in the program for New York’s Asian Contemporary Art Week 2018. In 2011, the artist participated in Art Basel Liste. In the same year he also participated in a residency project in Torre Canavese, Turin, Italy. In 2018, along Doyer’s Street in New York’s Chinatown, Chen Dongfan realized a large scale public art project supported by the New York Transportation Department in conjunction with the Chinatown Partnership. The artist took the surface of a 61 meter road as canvas, creating a vibrantly colored abstract painting “The Song of Dragon and Flowers” which The New York Times reported it as “a portrait for the street.” In addition to this, the artist received recognition from the New York State Assembly and the U.S. House of Representatives for his exceptional contribution to the area and the community.