Chen Kai, born 1990 in Wuhan, received his BFA in Oil Painting from Hubei Institute of Fine Arts in 2012, and an MFA from San Francisco Art Institute in 2018. He currently lives and works in Shanghai.
Chen Kai’s new works delve into the interplay of color, time, and abstraction through large-scale abstract oil paintings using pointillism. Each piece consists of countless color dots layered through repeated sessions. This gradual process reflects the natural accumulation of time, building rich texture and depth. In this series, Chen Kai employs optical-mixture techniques to explore the relationships and tensions between colors. Chen Kai’s painting process unfolds naturally, with each layer permeated by time, attention, and light. His latest series reflects the subtle power of time and invites contemplation of its delicate changes.
Chen was the recipient of the Headlands Graduate Fellowship Award in 2018, the Swatch Art Peace Hotel Artist Fellowship in 2019, and Leo Gallery Artist Residency in 2020. Chen’s works have been included in exhibitions at Leo Gallery, ART 021 Shanghai, Headlands Center for the Arts, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, Root Division, Live Worms Gallery, CARe Doug Adams Gallery, and San Francisco Art Institute, among others.