Jes Fan

Jes Fan is an artist born in Canada and raised in Hong Kong, currently based in Brooklyn, New York. His work looks at the intersection of biology and identity, and explores otherness, kinship, diasporic politics, transgender identity, and self-determination. Fan has exhibited in the United States, Belgium, Hong Kong, and others.

Fan holds a BFA in Glass from Rhode Island School of Design.

Fan is an artist who uses a haptic approach to understand how identity is materialized biologically and ontologically. Approaching materials as molecules, Fan uses substances such as hormones, melanin, silicone and soap—materials that are imbued with erotic and political signifiers to articulate his concerns about diasporic politics, transgender identities, and posthumanism.

Artforum has reviewed Fan's work, "Above all, (Fan's) sculptures were promiscuously biomorphic, resembling molecules, organs, orifices, skin, bodies of all kins--wringling forms of life that refuse any single definition." Artsy has commented that: "Fan’s desire is to obfuscate the difference between hard and soft, asking us to quantify and justify our sense of queerness as a limp thing. It’s a conceptual question for the viewer: How soft must a masculine object get to become feminine?"

Their works include Mother is a Woman (2018), a lotion with estrogen extracted from their mother’s urine and a related promotional video; Cellular Studies (2018), a sculpture made of soybean capsules, Aqua-Resin, and fibreglass; Resistance Training (2017), a pink silicone barbell weight that breathes in and out

Solo Exhibitions

Mother is a Woman, Empty Gallery, Hong Kong (2018)

No Clearance in Niche, Museum of Arts and Design, New York (2017)

Disposed to Add, Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia (2017)

Ot(her), Sarah Doyle Gallery, Brown University, Rhode Island (2016)

Selected Group Exhibitions[1]

Kiss My Genders, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Art Center, London (2019)

An Opera for Animals, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai

"In my room", Antenna Space, Shanghai

"SportCult", Team Gallery, NYC

"Paradox: The Body in the Age of AI", Miller ICA, Carnegie Mellon University

Uproot, Smack Mellon, New York (2017)

Glass Ceiling, UrbanGlass, New York (2017)

Timeshare, Zaha Hadid Building, New York (2018)

Set on Freedom, Queens Museum, New York (2017)

In Search of Miss Ruthless, Para Site, Hong Kong (2017)

From Dada to Tada, Fisher Parrish Gallery, Brooklyn, New York (2017)

Whereabouts, Glazenhuis Museum, Belgium (2016)

Fan is the recipient of awards including the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant 2017, Jerome Hill Fellowship 2019-2020, Edward and Sally Van Lier Fellowship at Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), CCGA Fellowship at Wheaton Arts, and John A. Chironna Memorial Award at RISD.

He has taken part in residencies including Para Site in Hong Kong (2017), Recess Session Artist in Residence, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts Residency, Pioneer Works Residency, Rhode Island School of Design Glass (2017), Pioneer Works (2017), Spring Workshop in Hong Kong, and Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.