S otheby’s is proud to present ‘One Breath’ a selling exhibition by the renowned artist, restaurateur, architectural designer and actor M aka Michael Chow, on view at Sotheby’s Dubai from 30 May until 1 July.
The exhibition will feature a collection of two bodies of work: a series of large-scale mixed-media canvases that represent the European and American approaches to abstract painting that M has combined with a Chinese conception of space, texture and bold gestures of Beijing opera to form his unique aesthetic.
Also a series of works on paper, the title for this series ‘One Breath’ derives as much from its portrayal of the physical world as it does from an inner space – a quantity that is both abstract and spiritual.
About the artist
M aka Michael Chow was born in 1939 into a family of theater in Shanghai, China. His father Zhou Xinfang the grandmaster of Beijing Opera is regarded as a national treasure to this day. In his early years M developed a passion for Beijing Opera particularly the creativity and spontaneity which he inherited from his father and he dreamed of following in his footsteps but this was not his fate.
At the age of 13 he was uprooted to London, England and he lost everything familiar even his name and alone in an alien world he turned to painting. In 1956 he studied at Saint Martin’s School of Arts and the following year at the Hammersmith School of Building and Architecture.
To fulfil his void and loss of identity he appointed himself as a cultural ambassador to bridge the East to the West and he founded his first restaurant MR CHOW on Valentine’s Day 1968 in Knightsbridge, London. Passionately promoting the greatness of China M orchestrates art, architecture, design and cuisine into a participatory theater.
His works have been exhibited in various museums and can be found in numerous private collections.
Enquiries:
| Katia.Nounou@sothebys.com +971 526 314 072 | Tim.Murphy@sothebys.com +44 20 7293 6663 |
| Yasmeen.Gailani@sothebys.com +971 509 394 576 |
