Out of Jungle
Two decades of Studio Doodads 1990 to 2010
February 12 - March 12, 2010
Artist:
Location:
Gallery 456
Exhibition Statement

Gallery 456 is pleased to present Ming Fay, Out of Jungle, Two decades of studio Doodads 1990 to 2010. This is Ming Fay’s second solo exhibition with Gallery 456 since 1990.

The title of the show refers to two decades of sculptural development based on the idea of the third culture and its human and natural boundaries reflecting ideas developed living in the big city and thinking about its relationship with nature.

Twenty years of Doodads included a collection with over 200 items from the studio, covering drawings, photos, studies, specimens, models and sculptural installations in the nature of a studio setting. The timing of this period represent a body of works that relate to the late 20th and early 21st century history, with personal events during this period of time.

Ming Fay is drawn to the notion of cultures, the act of crossing from one another, and calling attention to the changing times and his work evolving with the changes turning in a revolution of two decades. The works in this show relates to his studio mind where his bi-cultural brain had cooked up this mix bag of experimental goodies. These are works evolved from the early day singular pieces to the later garden installations and the more recent jungle presentations, with the new figurative works as a singular soul in the cultural jungle, striving for allusive balance in the third culture.

Ming Fay was born in Shanghai, China and received his B.F.A from the Kansas City Art Institute and his M.F.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has exhibited extensively in the US and also abroad, including solo exhibitions at: MOCA, Shanghai; Whitney Museum at Philip Morris, NYC; Queens Museum of Art, NYC, Montalvo Gallery, CA; Ramapo College, NJ; Leslie Heller Gallery, NYC; Kim Foster Gallery, NYC; Butters Gallery, Portland, OR; Exit Art, NYC; Lungmen Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan; and Alisan Gallery, Hong Kong, China. Fay has also participated in group Exhibitions at: Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC; National Academy Museum, NYC; The New Museum, NYC; Zimmeli Museum, NJ; Kohler Art Center, WI; Katonah Museum, NY; Neuberger Museum, NY; Laumier Sculpture, St. Louis; International Artist Museum, Lodz, Poland; and The Hong Kong Museum of Art, China.

Ming Fay has completed numerous public art projects across the US including installations at: MTA, Delancey Street Subway Station in NYC; Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia; the Staten Island Ferry Terminal of NYC; US Court House in Seattle; the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, OR; Llurberas Park in Yauco, Puerto Rico; Downtown Flushing Queens, and the Tivoli Townhouse for the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia. His sculpture was also featured in numerous books including recently published: Unsettled Visions: Contemporary Asian American Artists and the Social Imaginary; Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria, Asian American Art: A History, 1850-1970; City Art: New York’s Percent for Art Program; Along the Way: MTA Arts for Transit. Ming Fay is currently professor of sculpture at William Paterson University in New Jersey.

There will be an artist panel discussion on March 5, Friday, 6-9pm at Gallery 456 on the subject of “The Third Culture”. Ming Fay will host the panel with Art Critic Jonathan Goodman and renowned Chinese American Artists David Diao, Charles Yuen, Mary Ting and others.

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