Christopher Chan (b. 1983, Toronto, ON) is an artist based in Brooklyn, New York. He has exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, Goodwin-Ternbach Museum, 80WSE, Daniella Elbahara (Mexico City), Mankovsky Gallery (Sweden), NADA New York, Spring Break, Chicago International Film Festival and the United Center (Chicago). His work has also been previously commissioned by clients Nike, Gucci, Netflix, Meta, Amazon & more. He holds a BFA from Art Center College of Design (2012) and is an MFA candidate at NYU Steinhardt (2026).
photo credit (image 1): @viov.photo
Eggshell opens May 6th, 6-8pm at 80WSE
On view May 6 - 23
Filmed in 2016. Hidden for 10 years.
Directed by my talented and award winning friend, @cheston.kwan Never-before-seen process / bts video from 2016 🎞️
I owe this an apology for sitting in the archives for almost a decade. This was my first time having a vignette made about me, and I was WAY too insecure to post it. Cheston and some friends were in town for a wedding, came to my studio and he asked if I wanted a video and 5 min later the camera started rolling. I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t like how I looked on camera. I hated my voice. So it stayed hidden. Impostor syndrome.
Fast-forward to today: countless commissioned videos, ten years of making work, self-awareness, trusting others…
The recent “2016 trend” pushed me to look back with a great appreciation for being able to tap back into where it all started. The text still makes me cringe. At this point, I couldn’t even call myself an artist yet.
2016 was an incredible turning point. 1 year after leaving my dream job (Nike) to pursue the dream – thriving in freelance, starting Airbnb, in the best shape of my life and exhibting in Berlin… which became the funnest six months of my life. Met so many inspiring people, so many adventures and gave myself the confidence to move to New York and finally call myself an artist.
Time goes by fast. Thank you to Cheston and everyone who believed in me before I could.
Thanks for everyone who came to the opening last night and all the warm msgs for those who couldn’t!
Chinx Drugs is up until Sat 11/15 at 80 Washington Square East: 12-6pm
📸 @viov.photo
Opening Wed. Nov. 12, 5-7pm in the MFA Project Space:
Christopher Chan
CHINX DRUGS
Nov 12–15, 2025
Opening Nov 12, 5–7PM
_____________________
What reclamation looks like when the culture you love is simultaneously trying to erase you.
@honorroller
“Sweaters” (Detail)
Ceramic, 7” × 14¾” x 4”, 2024
This marks my first foray into abstraction—where figure gives way to form, and identity dissolves into surface. Stripped of facial features, details, even posture, the figure becomes a hushed presence, defined instead by texture and touch. The body blurs into its own clothing: a sweater rendered in soft speckled blues, pants etched with repetitive marks, a gesture carved into glaze. In removing likeness, I searched for feeling—for weight, quiet, and vulnerability. Inspired by Martin Wong’s reverence for pattern and the poetics of the overlooked, I let the surface speak: not who this figure is, but how they feel. It’s less about identity than atmosphere—a body fading gently into object.
Brain Rot, 2024: “Sweaters” BTS
Ceramic, 7” × 14¾” x 4”
This marks my first foray into abstraction—where figure gives way to form, and identity dissolves into surface. Stripped of facial features, details, even posture, the figure becomes a hushed presence, defined instead by texture and touch. The body blurs into its own clothing: a sweater rendered in soft speckled blues, pants etched with repetitive marks, a gesture carved into glaze. In removing likeness, I searched for feeling—for weight, quiet, and vulnerability. Inspired by Martin Wong’s reverence for pattern and the poetics of the overlooked, I let the surface speak: not who this figure is, but how they feel. It’s less about identity than atmosphere—a body fading gently into object.
