Cary Kwok
Born 1975, Hong Kong. Lives and works in London, United Kingdom.
Cary Kwok is a London based artist well known for his exquisite ball point pen drawings. Born and raised in Hong Kong, he attended a footwear course there before moving to London to further his studies in the mid 90s spending six years at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design studying fashion at BA and MA levels. He graduated in 2001 with an MA in Fashion Design (Womenswear).
A fascination with fashion, period costumes, footwear and sexuality forms the nucleus of Kwok’s subject matter, the diversity of styles and street fashion of London as well as period films also influence him greatly. Subjects range from explicit male nudes to period portraits and still lifes. Hairstyles and shoes are among his favoured subjects with work often subtly alluding to issues of race, ethnicity, culture, gender and sexual equality.
Cary is represented by Herald St Gallery in London and has exhibited internationally in London, New York, Miami, Tokyo, Geneva and Zurich, including shows at Galerie Emanuel Perrotin, Miami, Attention to Detail curated by Chuck Close at FLAG Art Foundation, New York, Rude Britannia at the Tate Britain, London, Keep Your Timber Limber, ICA London, Taro Nasu, Tokyo and Hauser & Wirth, Zurich.
PREVIOUS EXHIBITIONS
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2023 Herald St | Museum St, London, UK
2020 Am I Turning You On, Herald St | Museum St, London, UK
2019 Aishonanzuka, Hong Kong, HK
2016 Herald St, London, UK
2012 Qipao, Art Hong Kong, HK
2011 Joyce Boutique, Beijing, CN
2010 Obsession, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, US (cat)
Desire (Series 2), Opening Ceremony, Tokyo, JP
2009 Desire, Herald St, London, UK
2008 Cary Kwok, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Miami, US
2007 Herald St, London, UK
2005 Plumage, Herald St, London, UK
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2024 SHINE ON, Sadie Coles HQ, London, UK
Summer Fling, Flowers, Hong Kong, HK
2023 Saucisson, Shtager&Shch, London, UK
2022 Among Friends: Three Views of a Collection, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, US
The Male Gaze From Larry Stanton to Now, The Artist Room, London, UK
Sensitive Content, Unit London, London, UK
2021 The Gaze, TJ Boulting, London, UK
Drawn Out, Herald St, London, UK
2019 Sculpture-Lampe, Soft Opening, London, UK
Beyond the Bushes Vol. 1, Art Sablon, Brussels, BE
Drawn Together Again, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, US
2018 Impulse Control, Freedman Fitzpatrick, Paris, FR
Alexandra Bircken, Josh Brand, Matthew Darbyshire, Michael Dean, Cary Kwok, Amalia Pica, Nicole Wermers, Herald St |
Museum St, London, UK
2016 Bloody Life, Supportico Lopez in collaboration with Herald St, Herald St, London, UK
Folly, curated by Emalin, Dunmore Pineapple, Airth, Falkirk, UK
Takashi Murakami’s Superflat Collection-From Shohaku and Rosanjin to Anselm Kiefer, Yokohama Museum of Art,
Yokohama, JP
SFW, Forward Assembly, Hong Kong, HK
2015 Nirvana. Strange forms of pleasure, Gewerbemuseum, Winterthur, CH
2014 Portes ouvertes: Expositions – rencontres – multiples, Hard Hat, Geneva, CH
Lupanar, FORMA Art contemporain & cabinet d'expertise, Lausanne, CH
Nirvana. Strange forms of pleasure, mudac - Musée de design et d'arts appliqués contemporains, Lausanne, CH
Somos Libres II, Pinacoteca Gianni e Marella Agnelli, Turin, IT
2013 Keep Your Timber Limber (Works on Paper), Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK
BEST HAIRCUTS IN HISTORY, Genos/We Are Cuts, London, UK
2010 British Comic Art, Tate Britain, London, UK
Herald St, Taro Nasu, Tokyo, JP
2009 Top 10 Allegories, curated by Hard Hat, Francesca Pia Gallery, Zurich, CH
Directions, A Palazzo Gallery, Brescia, IT
The Three F’s, curated by Megan Sullivan, Freymond Guth, Zurich, CH
2008 Wall Rockets, curated by Lisa Dennison, FLAG, New York, US
2007 Attention to Detail, curated by Chuck Close, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, US
Hard Hat, Geneva, CH
Salon Nouveau, curated by Jasper Sharp, Engholm Engelhorn Gallery, Vienna, AT
2005 London in Zurich, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, CH
Herald St & The Modern Institute present, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York, US
Other People’s Projects, curated by Herald St, White Columns, New York, US
2004 Curb Your Enthusiasm, Millers Terrace, London, UK
Zoo Art Fair, Millers Terrace, London, UK