Fay, Ming

1943-2025
Shanghai , China

Born in 1943 to a family of artists in Shanghai, Ming Fay was a New York-based sculptor, installation artist, and professor. His work focuses on the concept of the garden as a symbol of utopia and the relationship between people and nature. Today he is well known for his large fruit sculptures and mixed media installations. His whimsical yet culturally poignant sculptures are made out of bronze or papier-mâché and often presented in a highly sophisticated way. 

After immigrating to Hong Kong in 1952, he would later attend Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio to study design in 1961. After graduating in 1965, he worked in a design studio before discovering his true passion, sculpture. He obtained a BFA degree in sculpture from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1967 and an MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1970. Since then he has resided in New York and devoted himself to his sculptural work. Throughout his career, Fay has been an active teacher and has taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Polytechnic, Columbus College of Art and Design, Pratt Institute, the William Paterson College, and the University of Pittsburgh. In 2007 he was the recipient of the NYFA fellowship in Sculpture. Fay was a member of the Board of Directors of the Alternative Museum, The Chinese American Arts Council, The Chinese Information and Culture Center, and the Overseas Chinese Renaissance Society. He has completed numerous public art commissions including a suspended glass and steel sculpture for a residential lobby in Philadelphia, a large-scale tree sculpture in Puerto Rico, sculptural benches for New York City Staten Island Ferry Terminal.

Alisan Fine Arts began representing Fay in 1985, and since then has held five solo exhibitions for the artist. He was included in New Ink Art: Innovation and Beyond held at the Hong Kong Museum of Art in 2008 and curated by Alice King. Fay has exhibited internationally and his works have been displayed at the Whitney Museum of American Art, National Academy Museum, New York; Łódź Biennale, Poland; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong. In 2023, he was also featured in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s seminal exhibition on Chinese art Oneness: Nature and Connectivity in Chinese Art. His works are in the collections of many prominent museums including the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Jersey; He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei; Hong Kong Museum of Art, M+ Hong Kong.

Another solo exhibition was planned in our New York gallery scheduled for the autumn following his untimely passing in February 2025. An important exhibition is on view at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston from  June 26, 2025.

 

BIOGRAPHY

1943   Born in Shanghai, China

1952   Moved with his family to Hong Kong where he completed his secondary education

1965   Diploma, Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, Ohio, USA

1967   BFA, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Taught in University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA

1968-1969   Taught in Fine Arts Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

1970   MFA, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA

Lecturer, Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, Ohio, USA

1971-1974   Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

1975   Lecturer, Hong Kong Polytechnic, Hong Kong

1978-1980   Lecturer, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, USA

1981-2016   Professor in sculpture, William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey, USA

1982   Co-founded the Epoxy Art Group in New York, USA

1990   Workplace Program Resident, Dieu Donné, Brooklyn, New York, USA

1992   Art Partner Program, Lila-Wallace - Reader's Digest Fund, New York, USA

1994   Residency Program, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Grant, Brooklyn Centre for 

Innovative Editions, Rutgers University, New  Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
Residency Program, Urban Glass: New York Centre for Contemporary Glass, Brooklyn, New York, USA

1995   Arts/Industry Residency Program, John Michael Kohler Arts Centre, Kohler, Wisconsin, USA

2000-2016   Visiting Professor & Artist-in-residence, Rinehart School of Sculpture, MFA Program, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

2016   Included in the gallery monograph Alisan Fine Arts 35 Years, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

2022   Published artist monograph, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

2025   Passed away in February, New York, USA

 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025

2023

  • New Land Plaza: You Can’t Beat a New York Original, Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, USA

2022-2023

2021

  • Excavation: The minds writes it on the body, Dieu Donné, New York, USA

2019

  • Ming Fay: Beyond Nature, Sapar Contemporary, New York, USA

2014

  • Figures, Lesley Heller Workspace, New York, USA

2012

  • Canutopia, Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey, USA

2010

  • Out of Jungle: Two decades of Studio Doodads 1990 to 2010, Chinese American Arts Council, New York, USA
  • Full Circle, Butters Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA

2007

2006

  • Silent Exile, 2x13 Gallery New York, USA
  • Monkey Pots New Species from Ming Fays Lab, Butters Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA 

2005

  • Ramapo Garden of Desire, Kresge Gallery, Ramapo College, Mahwah, New Jersey, USA

2004

  • Ming Fay – From Concept to Reality, Cuchifritos Gallery, New York, USA
  • Money Tree & Monkey Pots, Montalvo Gallery, Saratoga, California, USA

2003

  • Floating Botanica, Copia Museum, Napa, California, USA

2002

  • Hidden Seed Garden: An Installation by Ming Fay, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

2000

  • Qian and Bao, Butters Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA
  • Abundant Invention, Wave Hill Glyndor Gallery, Bronx, New York, USA

1998

  • Garden of Qian, Whitney Museum at Phillip Morris, New York, USA

1997

  • Lings, Bulova Corporate Center, Queens Museum of Art, Queens, New York, USA
  • Earthly Delights, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, Cazenovia, New York, USA

1996

  • Veins of the Spiral, Kim Foster Gallery, New York, USA
  • Feast for the Eyes, Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA
  • Midnight Porridge, Broadway Windows, New York University, New York, USA
  • Monkey Pots New Species from Ming Fays Lab, Butters Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA

1994

  • Matter into Spirit, Kim Foster Gallery, New York, USA
  • Extended Curves, Butters Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA
  • From the Garden, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

1993

  • On the Edge, Keen Gallery, New York, USA
  • Existential Attainment, Lungmen Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

1991

  • Images from Beyond, Butters Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA
  • Nature Reborn: From Archaeology to Science Fiction, Exit Art, New York, USA

1990  

  • Bell Sprouts (Outdoor Installation), Petrosino Park, New York, USA
  • Objects from Nature, Chinese American Arts Council, New York, USA

1989  

  • Journey into Nature, Squibb Gallery, Princeton, New Jersey, USA

1988   

  • Ming Fay, Gallery Triform, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Elixirs, Alternative Museum, New York, USA

1986   

  • Ming Fay: Recent Works, Hong Kong Institute for Promotion of Chinese Culture, Hong Kong

1985   

  • Drawings for Sculptures: Ming Fay, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
  • Ming Fay, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

1984   

  • Ming Fay, Broadway Windows, New York University, New York, USA

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024
  • Legacies: Asian American Art Movements in New York City (1969-2001), 80WSE Gallery, New York, USA

2023  

2022-2023  

  • Oneness: Nature and Connectivity in Chinese Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA

2022  

2021  

2020  

  • Frieze New York 2020 Online Edition, New York, USA

2020

  • Exodus II: Unhinging the Great Wall, Chinese Art Revealed, East Village NY 1980s, Whitebox Harlem, New York, USA

2019  

2018  

  • Art Across Archive: Postcards from Chinatown, Think!Chinatown Community Art Space, New York, USA

2010  

  • ART HK 10, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
  • New Ink Art: Painting & Installation, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

2008  

  • Back to the Garden, Daily Life to Spiritual Vision, Crossing Art Gallery, New York, USA

2007  

  • Shenzhen Ink Biennial, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
  • Material Terrain, Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville Tennessee 

2006  

  • Transplant Transculture, Wave Hill, Bronx, New York, USA
  • Transplanted, Kean University, Union, New Jersey, USA
  • New Chinese Occidentalism, Ethan Cohen Gallery, New York, USA

2005 

  • Neutral, Lab Gallery, New York, USA
  • Material Terrain, Laumeier Sculpture Park, St Louis, MO, USA

2004  

  • Lodz Biennial, International Artist Museum, Lodz, Poland
  • The 179th Annual, National Academy Museum, New York, USA
  • Crosscurrents in the Mainstream, Zimmerli Museum, New Jersey, USA
  • Metamorphosis, Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI, USA

2003 

  • Food Matters, Katonah Museum of Art, New York, USA
  • Serene Beauty, Jamaica Art Center, Jamaica, New York, USA

2002 

  • To Scale, The Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, USA

2001  

  • All Terrain, Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, VA, USA
  • Harvest 2001, Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, New Jersey, USA

2000  

  • Environmentally Concerned 2, Bronx River Art Center and Gallery, Bronx, New York, USA
  • Environmentally Concerned, Nathan Cummings Foundation, New York, USA
  • Art Nature/Nurture, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI, USA
  • The End, Exit Art, New York, USA
  • Persistence: Botanica, Butters Gallery, Portland Oregon, USA

1999 

  • Art Underfoot: Manhole Covers in New York, The Urban Center, New York, USA
  • Six Degrees of Seduction, Central Fine Arts, New York, USA
  • As Far As the Eye Can See, Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA, USA

1998  

  • Metaphors: Inspirations and Folklores, Henry Street Settlement, New York, USA
  • Paper: the State of Connection, Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, Neenah, Wisconsin, USA
  • Sculpture, Leedy Voulkos Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

1997  

  • 1997 Biennial Exhibition of Public Art, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York, USA
  • Ancient Emblems, Contemporary Signifiers, Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
  • Gardens of Urban Delight: The Lower East Side, Henry Street Settlement, New York, USA

1996

  • Posing Reality: Contemporary Still Life, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA
  • Black and White: Sculptors' Drawings, Marymount Manhattan College, New York, USA
  • Mutation of Ink and Paper, Taipei Gallery, New York, USA

1995  

  • Bodies/Transformations: Small Bronzes, TZ Art & Co., New York, USA
  • Elusive Source, Corcoran Gallery of Art, WashingtonDC, USA
  • Undetermined Origins, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD, USA
  • Workspace Program: 5 Years, Gallery at Dieu Donne Papermill, New York, USA

1994

  • Visionary Proposals for Lower East Side, Henry Street Settlement, New York, USA
  • Art for Learning, Municipal Art Society, New York, USA
  • Fabricate Nature, Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho, USA
  • Orientations, David Adamson Gallery, WashingtonDC, USA
  • The Garden of Sculptural Delights, Exit Art, New York, USA

1993  

  • Plant Body: Spiritual Botany, Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York, USA
  • Spring/Summer Exhibition, Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey, USA
  • Diverse Disclosures, Kenkeleba Gallery, New York, USA
  • Artists of Conscience, Alternative Museum, New York, USA

1992

  • Still Life Today, Scott Alan Gallery, New York, USA
  • Art Asia Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
  • The Hybrid State, Exit Art, New York, USA

1991  

  • Bronze, Frumkin/Adams Gallery, New York, USA
  • Group Exhibition, Nancy Drysdale Gallery, Washington DC, USA

1990  

  • Selections, Artist Space, New York, USA
  • The Decade Show: Epoxy Art Group, The New Museum, New York, USA

1989

  • Made in New York, Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, USA
  • Power Struggle, Spaces Gallery,Cleveland, OH, USA

1987

  • New York: New Venue, Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

1980

  • Chicago International Art Exposition, Allan Frumkin Gallery, Chicago, USA

 

SELECTED ART AWARDS

 2008   Sculpture Award, National Academy of Art, New York, USA

2007   Fellowship in Sculpture, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, USA

2004   National Endowment for the Arts Grant, Commission Proposal Support, USA

 

SELECTED PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS

2009   NYCEDC, Lippmann Plaza, Flushing, Queens, New York, USA

2006   Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia, Tivoli Townhouse, Pennsylvania, USA

2005   Department of Transportation and Public Works, Yauco, Puerto Rico, USA

Whitehall Ferry Terminal, New York, USA

2004     MTA, Delancey/Essex Streets Station, New York, USA

General Services Administration, US Courthouse, Seattle, Washington, USA

2003   Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon, USA

1995   Percent for Art, Criminal Justice Centre, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Percent for Art, P.S. 7, Elmhurst, New York, USA

1990   Petrosino Square, New York, USA

 

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

New York University Library Special Collections, New York, USA
New Museum, New York, USA
Portland Museum of Art, Maine, USA
Dieu Donné, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Asian American Arts Centre, New York, USA
Phipps House, Daly Avenue Apartments, Bronx, New York, USA
PS7, Elmhurst, Queens, New York, USA
ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, New York, USA
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Huntington National Bank, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO, USA
Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, California, USA
Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA
Sidney Lewis Foundation, Richmond, Virginia, USA
Prudential Insurance Company, Los Angeles, California, USA
Ten Main Center, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Pittsburgh National Bank, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
R.J. Reynolds, Salem, North Carolina, USA
He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen. China
Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Howard Plaza Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
M+, Hong Kong
China Club, Hong Kong
Conrad Hilton Hotel, Hong Kong
JP Morgan, Hong Kong

 

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