Art Toronto
Galerie Youn is proud to announce Peter Chan's solo booth A34 at Metro Toronto Convention Centre, as part of this year's edition of Art Toronto.
The Twilight Hours
Continuing from his previous series, 'For the Love of Gold', Chan is exploring the history of interactions and of commerce, in ‘The Twilight Hours’.
Chan looked to F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel 'The Great Gatsby' for inspiration. Fitzgerald's characters represent the American dream in the 1920s. The rising commerce of advertisements, magazines, billboards, radios and newspapers paralleled Fitzgerald's observation of the inevitable commercialization of love, romance and the human heart.
It was the “roaring twenties” of accelerated economic growth that juxtaposed narcissistic wealth against abject poverty. Chan also draws the parallel of our own “roaring twenties” of high-speed technology.
Chan is interested in the decadence and absolute extravagances within Fitzgerald’s themes of class, idealization, gender, superficiality vs truth and loss of love.
In ‘The Twilight Hours’, Chan explores the fantasy of this world. The rose-tinted glasses are replaced with a veil of gold. One subject even wears glasses beneath his veil. Chan, like Fitzgerald, folds us into his world and from there we can look out through a golden sheen, our vision bathed in twilight and a blaze of sunset glory.
ABOUT PETER CHAN
Peter Chan’s (b. 1985) currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada. He received his Bachelor of Applied Arts (BAA) from Sheridan College in 2008. His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions worldwide including Hong Kong, London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Montreal, and Toronto. He has also been included in the Art with Heart Collection for Casey House in Toronto, auctioned off at the Art Gallery of Toronto, Canada.
Chan’s narrative themes can be considered autobiographical, though the artist often explores critical themes of East Asia. In his work, he distorts and recomposes imagery to form compositions that allow for new narratives and meaning. Currently, he is interested in the themes of superstition, identity, popular culture, traditions, and gender ideologies. The artist uses a mix of contemporary figures to form new stories by re-introducing them with both historical and contemporary references.
He is also professor and lecturer at OCAD University, Sheridan College, and Seneca College. His work has been featured in numerous publications and newspapers including Ming Pao Daily, Hi-Fructose Magazine, BOOOOOOOM, and Rogers Television Canada.
Art Toronto Public Hours:
In-Person: Oct 29 - 31, 2021
Online: Oct 29 - Nov 7, 2021
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Photos by : Corentin Mainix
