Kim Wan (b.1970) is a British artist of East Asian Polynesian and Western European heritage. Wan’s artworks are all painterly – whether it is the obsessive exploration in his series of self-portraits, or the heavy impastoed, painted surfaces on found objects contributing to large-scale major installations. He made a lot of hip hop inspired graffiti during the 1980s, and the speed and power of spray-painting has remained a strong thread throughout his art career.
In the UK, Wan has worked with museums and institutions such as the National Portrait Gallery, TATE Modern, the Institute of Contemporary Art and the National Gallery. He is a selected artist by international committee at the Florence Biennale and is represented in the Saatchi collection. Exhibiting regularly in New York City, recent shows also include Art Basel Miami and range from Berlin, Moscow and Beijing to the Louvre, Paris.
Kim Wan c.1983 Hastings
Selected past exhibitions and events
- SCOPE, See.Me, Miami Beach, USA
- ‘Et Tu Art Brute?’ Andrew Edlin Underground Gallery, NYC
- Cultural Traffic’ publication fairs, NYC, Los Angeles & London
- Rugby World Cup, England 2015, Opening Ceremony
- Richelieu balcony, La Louvre, Paris, France
- #seemetakeover, digital collaboration, Times Square, NYC
- SWIm film by Amy Sharrocks, Somerset House, London
- SCOPE, Miami Beach, USA, See.Me
- Opening ceremony UEFA champions league final- Wembley stadium
- London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony-Isles Of Wonder by Danny Boyle
- TATE Modern Tanks and Five Years Gallery
- Westminster Reference Library, London
- Institute of Contemporary Art, London
- Rebecca Marshall & the London Film School
- National Portrait Gallery, London
- University of Brighton
- ACInstitute, New York City
- Sanlun Yishu Global Project Beijing China
- Ania Bas and Walsall New Art Gallery, England
Winchester School of Art, 1998. By kind permission: copyright-Alastair Eales
Education
- 1998 Winchester School of Art, B.A.( hons.) Fine art- Painting
Awards and Grants
- Workweek prize 2013- shortlist, five years gallery, Artlicks weekend, 2013
- TASTY MODERN 2013, Selected for Whitechapel Gallery’s First Thursdays Top 5 Exhibitions
- Bursary award, Arts Council London
- Exhibition award#3, Arts & Business South East
- Professional development award, Princes Trust
- Exhibition award#2, Arts & Business South East
- Exhibition award#1, Arts & Business South East
- Mentoring grant, Arts Council England South East
- Exhibition award, Decibel South East, Arts Council England
- Professional development award, Arts & Business South East
- Exhibition grant, South East Arts, Arts Council England
Professional development
- EAST professional development, funded by Arts Council London
- Mentoring programme, funded by Arts Council England
- Creative Routes ( Palmer-Hamilton partnership), part funded by European Social Fund
- Artist – consultant on Arts Strategy, South East Arts, Arts Council England
- Consultation report, Arts Council England National Office
- Development Forum member, Arts & Business South East Arts Member, Arts & Business South
Publications
- THIS IS NOT PUBLIC. Five Years Publications: Public Series no. 5.ISBN 978-1-903724-11-8
- KIM WAN, Westminster reference library, London, UK
- RANDOM WORKS, Westminster reference library, London UK
- THIS IS NOT A SCHOOL. Five Years publications ISBN 978-1-903724-07-1
- (IM) POSSIBLE SCHOOL BOOK:AS FOUND.APPENDIX. ISBN 978-1-903724-08-8, Five Years Publications, Tate Modern library
- VIOLENTS, Winchester School of Art library, Hampshire, UK
- VIOLENTS, The School House, ArtworksMK , Great Linford, UK
- PAN-DEMONIUM by Gilian Whiteley, art history essay featuring work by Kim Wan ISBN-13: 978-0984130900
Online Reviews and Press
- AC Institute A Kim Wan solo show Kim Wan solo show Manhattan
- AC Institute [Direct Chapel] – In A Star Orbit and Pan-demoniumdetail of Kim Wan’s drawing, literature on Bricolage Kitchen curated by Gillian Whiteley
- Amazon.co.uk Pan-demonium by Gilian Whiteley, art history essay based on the show in AC Chapel NYC, featuring work by Kim Wan, on Amazon Books.
- Art Cards London Brings you to Art
- Art Cat The Opinionated Guide to New York Art.
- Art Forum The online edition of Artforum International Magazine.
- Artrabbit International contemporary art
- Art Slant Contemporary art network
- artfacts Inside information
- Artipedia Artipedia is the new official encyclopedia for art fans as much as professionals.
- ArtLyst London Art Network
- Arts & Business Cultural investment agency
- Artslant-Kim Wan talk scroll down for information about the talk at AC Institute
- BBC Southern counties -This is not graffiti anymore Graffiti expo Brighton
- Close but no cigar Initiative set up to question the role of the artist and art institution
- Drawing Connections in Siena Siena Art Institute
- Ethos World promoting Graffiti and spraypainting.
- Five Years unfunded collaborative artists’ project in Hackney
- Interface a-n review of Surface Gallery International Postcard Show 2013
- Kim Wan Art Kim Wan Arts website
- New York Times review of Postcards From The Edge 2018
- National portrait gallery four corners Kim Wan’s self portrait
- Rhizome site.Decision Making and Output , A talk by artist Kim WanTalk at the AC
- Rhizome-at the New MuseumRhizome is located within the New Museum at:235 Bowery, New York NY 10002
- Rise Art Artist profile-Kim Wan
- Saatchi online gallery- Kim Wan Kim Wan , artist’s page on the Saatchi online gallery
- SCOPE MIami Beach 2013 Exhibiting at this prestigious art fair December 3-8
- See.Me Kim Wan to exhibit with See.Me at Scope Miami 2013
- SWIm event 55 swimmers join artist Amy Sharrocks for a swim across the waterways of London
- The Village Voice- NYC publicationNew York newspaper
- This Is Not A School Five Years Gallery present……proposal no. 47, Kim Wan
- Van Gogh one minute exhibition, New Art Gallery, Walsall Kim Wan and Van Gogh on the same wall
- Whitechapel Gallery First Thursdays Late night art on the first Thursday of every month in east London
