James Lee Chiahan

Wobble Oil on wood panel 48 x 60in 2024 Working from a photo taken by my late father, I painted a moment from an epic banquet dinner we had together with his old friends, their wives, and their daughters. Through painting, through his eyes, I face grief and the memory of a difficult and regretful time. I spend time with him again in a sideways way. The act of mining nostalgia and personal history is a destructive one. Missing pieces come into frustrating focus, inaccuracies congeal, and old feelings take new shapes. We can find illumination and healing through contemplation, but by re-experiencing the past, its original colour is altered forever. - I’m proud to share this painting and a few others with the support of @galeriepfoac at @art_toronto , in the Metro Toronto Convention Center October 25th to 27th. We’ll be at booth A38. See ya!

[Français à suivre] We’re happy to announce the upcoming duo exhibition "Loss as a gift / Rémanences" by James Lee Chiahan @buttmcbutt and Bryan Beyung @bryanbeyung , at Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain @galeriepfoac . Join us Saturday, May 30th, 3:00-5:30pm for the opening. The exhibition brings together the practices of James Lee Chiahan and Bryan Beyung around loss as a cycle of passage, engaging with grief and displacement. Through painting, the exhibition explores this in-between space where identities and memories are redefined. The works evoke moments of transition, allowing a living space to emerge where memory and becoming coexist. 🌷🦀 Nous avons le plaisir d’annoncer l’exposition à venir, intitulée « Rémanences / Loss as a Gift », par Bryan Beyung et James Lee Chiahan, à la galerie Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain. Nous vous invitons chaleureusement au vernissage le samedi 30 mai, 15h - 17h30. L’exposition réunit les pratiques de Bryan Beyung et James Lee Chiahan, explorant la perte comme un cycle de passage, abordant le deuil et le déracinement. À travers la peinture, l’exposition explore cet espace intermédiaire où identités et mémoires se redéfinissent. Les œuvres évoquent des moments de transition, laissant émerger un espace vivant où traces du passé et devenir coexistent.

Breath of Spring (2025) A student project from last year reimagined the common space of the Pavillon Marie-Victorin at UdeM. The textures, colours, and material intentions of their project informed the basis of this mural, describing mother nature's abstract beauty in the season of renewal. Thank you so much to @mumtl and UdeM for having me paint this wall, it was so much fun. Shout outs 📸 @olivier_b for the beautiful photos. - Un projet étudiant de l'an dernier a réinventé l'espace commun du Pavillon Marie-Victorin à l'UdeM. Les textures, les couleurs et les matériaux utilisés ont inspiré cette peinture, qui décrit la beauté abstraite de la nature au saison du renouvellement. Merci beaucoup à @mumtl et à l'UdeM de m'avoir ; c'était très fun. Merci aussi à 📸 @olivier_b pour les photos!

Tried walking in Rembrandt's shoes for this oil portrait of Henry David Thoreau for @theatlantic - an impossible task and I fell short of course, but I loved painting it anyways. What a nose on this guy! My thanks to AD Allison ZD!

Are we all material—tissues and veins—or is there some nonmaterial substance, some essence, that transcends the corporeal form? "The Mind-Body Question" by Alan Lightman 5x6" acrylic on paper A quiet little painting for @theatlantic - big thanks to Liz Sanders for having me on this!

Introducing the BTA Painting Prize 2026 WINNER ⭐️ James Lee Chiahan ⭐️ @buttmcbutt Im thrilled to announce James as the winner of the Painting Prize! Based in Montreal, James is a self-taught Taiwanese-Canadian artist. He has been commissioned in editorial and commercial contexts for brands such as @apple @newyorkermag & @theatlantic ‘This painting uncovers my inner experience of being a person far removed from their original culture, searching for a way back. Sitting in my Montréal apartment kitchen, I surround myself and dress myself with culturally-coded everyday items that are at once superficial, commodified and deeply sentimental. I aim to express the curiosity, pain, embarrassment, and joy that comes with reconnecting with crucial parts of my life that a younger self often tried to minimize as a damaging bid for belonging.’ You can view this piece in the virtual gallery which is now live on my website! You can also vote for your favourite piece to win the People’s Choice Award! #BTAArtPrize2026 #artcollector #artist #artgallery #virtualexhibition

[English follows] Coup d'oeil sur les oeuvres de l'exposition «Échos narratif», en cours jusqu'au 20 décembre. James Lee Chiahan : De «Home Alone» à «Kung Fu Hustle», @buttmcbutt se réapproprie des scènes de certains de ses films préférés afin de créer une série de dyptiques intimes et énigmatiques. John Latour : Dans ces oeuvres récentes, @johnlatourart poursuit son travail avec des photographies trouvées du début du vingtième siècle. En appliquant des mouchetures de peinture blanche sur ces figures anonymes, leurs traits deviennent flous et mis en évidence - existant à la fois dans le passé et le présent, dans un état de présence et d’absence. Adad Hannah : Pour ce nouveau projet, @adadhannah s'est intéressé à «L’Absinthe» d’Edgar Degas dont il a reconstruit la scène dans son atelier. Il en résulte une série de vidéos et de photographies qui retracent un lent délitement. 📸: @labelleprovenance 3. James Lee Chiahan, «Hunters in the snow (After Bruegel)», 2025 5. John Latour, «Mother and father sitting under a tree with their son holding a bunch of flowers», 2024 6. Adad Hannah, «The Absinthe Drinker (after Degas)», 2025 ___ A glimpse at the works in the exhibition "Échos narratifs", on view until December 20. James Lee Chiahan: From "Home Alone" to "Kung Fu Hustle", James Lee Chiahan reappropriates scenes from some of his favorite films to create a series of intimate and enigmatic diptychs. John Latour: In these recent works, John Latour continues his exploration with found photographs from the early twentieth century. By applying flecks of white paint to these anonymous figures, their features become blurred and highlighted – existing both in the past and the present, in a state of presence and absence. Adad Hannah: For this new project, Adad Hannah turned his attention on Edgar Degas’ "L’Absinthe", reconstructing the scene in his studio. The result is a series of videos and photographs that chart a slow unravelling.

Some oils for a @ct_mag story about Dr. Denis Mukwege, a pastor and surgeon in the DRC, a tireless advocate for women and children suffering through war. Forgot to share this one - big thanks to @jared_boggess for asking me on this one! The image and excellent layout in the opening slide credits to him.

JAMES LEE CHIAHAN, ADAD HANNAH, JOHN LATOUR : ÉCHOS NARRATIFS 8 novembre – 20 décembre / November 8 – December 20 [English follows] Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain a le plaisir de présenter «Échos narratifs», une exposition regroupant des œuvres récentes de James Lee Chiahan ( @buttmcbutt ), @adadhannah et @johnlatourart . À travers divers médiums, les œuvres de cette exposition explorent la relation qu’entretiennent image peinte et photographique afin de faire émerger une pluralité de récits et de temporalités. 📸: 1. Adad Hannah «The Absinthe Drinker (after Degas)» (détail), 2025 2. James Lee Chiahan «Hunters in the snow (After Bruegel)» (détail), 2025 3. John Latour, «Wide-eyed girl with dress and sash leaning against a podium» (détail), 2025 ____ Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain is pleased to present «Échos narratifs», an exhibition featuring recent works by James Lee Chiahan, Adad Hannah, and John Latour. Through a variety of media, the works in this exhibition explore the relationship between painted and photographic images, allowing a plurality of narratives and temporalities to emerge.

an unused portrait of author helen dewitt for @nytbooks i loved painting this - my deepest bow to @matt.dorfman for trying to make this happen 8x12" oil on canva paper

a tough one for the @washingtonpost ‘It broke me’: Inside the FBI hunt for the online predators who persuaded a 13-year-old to die. my thanks to AD natalie v

Oil on paper, digital, 7.5x10.5" For a @thewalrus piece by @tatum_dooley on the convergence of the artist, the art, and the public persona. Thanks to the captain Zoya S for having me on 🎨