Joe Fan
Joe Fan, born in Hong Kong in 1962, came to Scotland to study Graphic Design at Aberdeen College of Commerce. He was then advised by an Aberdeen College Lecturer to apply for a place at Gray's School of Art to study Fine Art. After successfully gaining a place at Gray's, one of his teachers was Gordon Bryce. Following graduation in 1998, Joe won the Miller Homes Young Scottish Artist of the Year and was sent to Paris to spend time at the Cite Internationale des Arts from 1989 - 1990. He returned to Aberdeen and lectured at Gray's School of Art in Drawing and Painting from 1990-1997. During this period, Joe also spent time as a visiting lecturer at Cyprus College of Art, Paphos, in 1994. Joe has since given up his role as a lecturer to pursue his own full time career as an artist.
Joe's approach to painting is quite unique. He claims to have no great purpose to his paintings, no common themes or concepts, but instead presents them as being pictorial and narrative, depicting various stories and concepts for the viewer to interpret. He is fond of playing visual tricks in his work, and often paints "tongue-in-cheek", taking liberties with perspective and magnifying the scale of his images.
Joe is a Royal Scottish Academician and has won many awards and prizes, including the Gillies Award. More recently, in 2009 and 2010 he was a Prize Winner for the Aberdeen Artists' Exhibition, sponsored by Shell. In 2010, Joe won the Royal Scottish Academy's John Maxwell Travelling Award.
He has exhibited with Thackeray Gallery since 1990, and regularly in Scotland. His work is in many public and private collections including the Scottish Arts Council, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Xerox Marlow Collection, Miller Homes Art Collection, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and the Unilever Art Collection. His work can also be found at Soho Hotel, London and Crosby Street Hotel, New York.
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