2019: The Year According to Jes Fan

To commemorate the year that was, we invited an array of artists, writers, filmmakers, designers, and performers to share a list of the most noteworthy ideas, events, and objects they encountered in 2019.

Jes Fan is a Brooklyn-based artist born in Canada and raised in Hong Kong, China. He is the recipient of various fellowships such as the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant, Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, Van Lier Fellowship at Museum of Arts and Design and John A. Chironna Memorial Award at RISD. Fan has exhibited internationally; selected exhibitions include Kiss My Genders at Hayward Gallery (London/UK), Mother is a Woman at Empty Gallery (Hong Kong), An Opera for Animals at Rockbund Museum (Shanghai/CN), In Search of Miss Ruthless, Para Site, (Hong Kong), Paradox: Haptic Body in the Age of AI at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh/US). Fan has also participated in numerous artists residencies such as Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Recess Art, Smack Mellon and Pioneer Works. Fan’s work has been reviewed and featured by Artforum, Hyperallergic, AsiaArtPacific, BOMB, Frieze, and Mousse. In 2020, Fan will be participating in the 22nd Biennale of Sydney, NIRIN, and the Liverpool Biennale, The Stomach and the Port.

I.
OCEAN VUONG’S ON EARTH WE ARE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS

Dear Ocean, your book made my 2019 infinitely richer. Thank you for sharing your art with us.

2.
HONG KONG PROTESTS

The protests at home have been going on for more than six months. Like most diasporic Hong Kong folks, the experience of witnessing this fire from afar is pained and numbing. Yet, at times, it is especially uplifting to witness humor in the movement. Here’s a picture of a protester masked in her own hair after the Mask Ban was instated.

3.
SHANGHAI!

I was invited by the inimitable Alvin Li to show at Antenna Space. Shanghai was intoxicating: the mirror-polished marble malls, Lai Lai Dancing Hall, and most importantly, the PEARL POPPING CAFES. Here is an image of me harvesting pearls. Pearls are really just calcified infections; now they are forever lodged in my psyche.

4.
SIMONE LEIGH AT THE GUGGENHEIM

Some sculptures are not to be experienced by the eye but to be experienced in the mouth—particularly like the motion of grazing your tongue against the backside of your teeth, then the roof of your jaw. When you do that your mouth waters. This is one of those.

5.
LONDON

I visited London for the first time to participate in the show Kiss My Genders. It was a joy to be showing work next to people I consider to be part of my art-kin and visionaries, such as Chitra Ganesh, Nayland Blake, and Victoria Sin. I had the queerest time in London staying with the most gracious hosts, Maddie Dai, Alexa, Bri, and Lynn.

6.

THIS FISH TRAPPED IN MOTHER OF PEARL AT THE NATIONAL HISTORY MUSEUM, LONDON

7.
LEARNED HOW TO WELD AT SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK

Butch Hot Glue.

8.
LEARNED HOW TO BUILD WITH CLAY AT A BEMIS CENTER RESIDENCY

Clay is so liberating—rarely do I get to actually touch the materials I sculpt with, such as metal, glass, resin, and silicone. Usually our exchange is dammed either by gloves, leather, or vinyl; tools, metal or wooden. Clay allows my hand to fully indulge in the lush potential that the material offers. I’m sure that there’s more to come!!

9.
RACHEL HARRISON AT THE WHITNEY

The comedic genius! I can’t stop seeing every object in the room to be in relation to her sculptures. I stared at this viewer staring at Rachel’s work for a long time, in that duration she became part of the sculpture too.

 10.
THANKSGIVING

This year’s Thanksgiving was especially warm, hosted by Spencer Yeh (Dad) and Meg Clixby (Daddy) at their lovely apartment, graced by the presence of five dessert pies, natural wines, and 100-hour sous-vide duck confit.