Kai Chan
Arts & Expression, East Asian, Visual Art
She graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1970, specializing in interior design. In 1981, she attended the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts in Banff, Alberta. She also has a degree in Biology.
She has curated exhibitions at the York Quay Centre at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, including "Moving Stories" in 2007 and "4 Souls 2 Worlds" in 2005. She designed and installed exhibitions - "Jean-Pierre Larocque" in 2006 and "Clay Portraits: Gertraud Mohwald" in 2007 - for Toronto's Gardiner Museum. In 2007, she designed the set for "Necessary Velocity", a dance work by choreographer Michelle Silagy of Toronto's Winchester Street Theatre.
In 2004, she embarked on a Canada Council Paris studio residency. Between 2005 and 2008, she presented at the Banff Centre and the University of Lethbridge, both in Alberta, the Bergen National Academy of Art & Design in Norway and at a textile symposium in Harrogate, England.
Kai is the winner of the 2002 Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence in the Crafts and the Jean A. Chalmers National Crafts Award for 1998. She has been awarded several Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council grants since 1985, the most recent an Ontario Arts Council Crafts Grant in 2008.
Her works are included in several public collections including: Museum London (London, ON.); Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon, SK.); Musée des Arts Decoratifs de Montréal (Montréal); The Canadian Museum of Civilization (Hull, QU); The Library and Gallery (Cambridge, ON); and Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum (Trondheim, Norway).
Kai's solo exhibitions include:
( * indicates catalogue )
2008 | Mirage, Laio Collection, Philadelphia
2007 | To Please the Eye, David Kaye Gallery, Toronto
2007 | From Sea to See, Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, ON
2006 | Apparition, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, AB
2006 | Added Pleasure, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2006 | From Sea to Shore - Travel Notes, Galerie Elena Lee, Montréal
2006 | A Traveller's Night Vision, Keyano Art Gallery, Fort McMurray, AB
2004 | A Walk In The Wildness, Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto
2003 | In Four Winds, Primary Gallery, Toronto
2003 | Buddha's Eyes, an installation at Canada Quay, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
2002-2003 | Prix Saidye Bronfman Award 2002, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull,
2001-2003 | Rainbow Lakes, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, touring to Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery (Halifax, NS); Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery (Owen Sound, ON); Museum London (London, ON); Art Gallery of Peterborough (Peterborough, ON); Southern Alberta Art Gallery (Lethbridge, AB); Illingworth Kerr Gallery (Calgary, AB); and the Art Gallery of Sudbury.*
2000 | Can You See Me Now, Prime Gallery, Toronto
1999 | Against Nature, Galerie Elena Lee, Montréal
1999 | To the East, To the West, York Quay Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
1998 | Pomegranates, Prime Gallery, Toronto
1996 | In Search of Paradise, The Library & Gallery, Cambridge, Ontario*
1993 | To Catch the Invisible, Prime Gallery, Toronto
1993 | New Work , Galerie Trois Points, Montréal,
1989 | Amsterdam-Toronto, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1989 | Solo, Galerie Trois Points, Montréal
1987 | Kai Chan - New Work, The Craft Gallery, Ontario Crafts Council, Toronto
1986 | Solo, White Water Gallery, North Bay, ON
1985 | Uitagave Museum Het Kruithuis, ŒS-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
1985 | Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1973, 1975-1976 | Merton Gallery, Toronto
Her group exhibitions include:
2007 | "A Vital Mix", Ontario Crafts Council, Toronto
2007 | "Re-Collect", York Quay Centre, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
2006 | 1001 Rings, New Gallery, Toronto
2006 | Radiant, 30 Years Ra, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam and Stedelijk Museum Roermond, Netherlands*
2005 | Loose Ends, Liane and Danny Taran Gallery, Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, Montréal
2004 | Manifesta: Vision & Mastery in Contemporary Craft, Gallery Stratford, Stratford, ON
2004 | Paper/Scissors/Stone, Gendai Gallery, Toronto
2003 | Between Line & Form, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa
2001 | The 10th International Triennial of Tapestry Lodz 2001, Poland.
2000 | Walk in the Woods, Burlington Art Centre, Burlington, ON
1997 | Common space, International Art Exhibition, Pezinok, Slovakia*
1997 | Between Sense and Place, The Winchester Gallery, University of Southampton, England*
1996 | 20 Years Ra, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, Netherlands*
1995 | 8th International Triennial of Tapestry, Lodz, Poland*
1994 | Contemporary Canadian Artists, University Art Gallery, Central Michigan University, Michigan.
1993 | Within the Shadow of the Sun, York Quay Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
1993 | In Our Hands, Gallery Maronie, Kyoto, Japan*
1992 | A Treasury of Canadian Craft, The Canadian Craft Museum, Vancouver, BC*
1991 | The Banquet Table, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, Netherlands*
1987 | Schmuck-Zeichen am Koroper, Francisco Carolinum, Linz, Austria*
1987 | Beyond the Object, Saskatchewan Craft Council, toured Canada*
1986 | 10 Years Ra, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, Netherlands*
1985 | 12th International Biennial of Tapestry, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Art, Lausanne, Switzerland, toured in Scandinavia*
1984 | Art by Design, Canada House, London, England; toured UK*
1984 | Contemporary Jewellery - The Americans, Australia, Europe and Japan, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan.*
1982 | Jewellery Redefined, the 1st International Exhibition of Multi-media Non-Precious Jewellery, 1982, British Crafts Centre, London, England.*
1982 | Canada Mikrokosma: An Exhibition of Contemporary Canadian Tapestries, Barbican Centre for Arts and Conferences, London, and toured to: Palacio de Cristal, Madrid; Textilmuseum, Krefeld; Nordjyllands Kunstmusem, Copenhagen and in Canada.*
1973 | Textile into 3-D, Extension Services of Art Gallery of Ontario, toured Ontario.*
1972 | Make, Ontario Science Centre, Toronto.*
Mirage
2007
Material: silk thread, nail
Size: 178 x 229 x 2 cm
Reproduced with permission of the artist