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.
Fay has exhibited internationally and his works have been displayed at the Whitney Museum of American Art, National Academy Museum, New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Łódź Biennale, Poland; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong. 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 6 solo exhibitions for the artist. He was included in New Ink Art: Innovation and Beyond held at Hong Kong Museum of Art in 2008 and curated by Alice King.
In February 2025, Fay passed away. Significant solo exhibitions were held in the same year at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, The Campus in New York, and Alisan Fine Arts in New York, USA. A talk on Asian diasporic artists, including Ming Fay, titled Art on the Move: NYC's Iconic Subway Murals, co-organized by the China Institute and the Asian Art Archive in America, took place in November of the same year in New York. In 2026, his works were exhibited at China Institute Gallery's Metamorphosis: Chinese Imagination and Transformation in New York; the 14th Taipei Biennale: Whispers on the Horizon at Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan; Unlicensed Goods, YDP, London, UK; Spirit Matter: Four Rooms, Selections from ICA Miami’s Permanent Collection, USA.
In terms of academic research, in 2026, the Asian/Pacific/American Institute (APA Institute) at New York University (NYU) in collaboration with NYU’s Special Collections and Asian Art Archive, established the Ming Fay Research Fellowship, which aims to support research on academic topics such as transnational identity, the history of Asian diaspora, ecological thought, material experimentation and sculptural practice, public art and site-specific installations. In the same year, the Asian Art Archive established the "Ming Fay Archive". Phase 1 was launched in September. Phase 2 and 3 are set to launch in 2027.
His works are in the collections of many prominent museums including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Brooklyn Museum, The New Museum, Portland Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, He Xiangning Art Museum, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Hong Kong Museum of Art, M+ Hong Kong.
BIOGRAPHY
1943 Born in Shanghai, China2026 Ming Fay Research Fellowship established by Asian/Pacific/American Institute (APA Institute) at New York University (NYU) in collaboration with NYU’s Special Collections and Asian Art Archive
2026-2027 Asian Art Archive established Ming Fay Archive
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
2023
2022-2023
2021
2019
2014
2012
2010
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2000
1998
1997
1996
1994
1993
1991
1990
1989
1988
1986
1985
1984
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
20272023
2022-2023
2022
2021
2020
2020
2019
2018
2010
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1987
1980
SELECTED ART AWARDS
2008 Sculpture Award, National Academy of Art, New York, USA
SELECTED PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
2009 NYCEDC, Lippmann Plaza, Flushing, Queens, New York, USA
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, USA
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Dieu Donné, Brooklyn, New York, USA
The New Museum, New York (Epoxy Art Group), NY, USA
New York University Library Special Collections, New York, NY, USA
ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, New York, NY, USA
Asian American Arts Centre, New York, USA
Phipps House, Daly Avenue Apartments, Bronx, NY, USA
PS7, Elmhurst, Queens, New York, NY, USA
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, USA
Portland Museum of Art, Maine, ME, USA
Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Pittsburgh National Bank, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Sidney Lewis Foundation, Richmond, VA, USA
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH, USA
Columbus Gallery of Fine Art, Columbus, OH, USA
Huntington National Bank, Columbus, OH, USA
R.J. Reynolds Corporation, Salem, NC, USA
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA), Miami, FL, USA
Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO, USA
Ten Main Center, Kansas City, MO, USA
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, USA
Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, TX, USA
Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Prudential Insurance Company, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Howard Plaza Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan
He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen. China
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
M+ Museum, Hong Kong
China Club, Hong Kong
Conrad Hilton Hotel, Hong Kong
J.P. Morgan, Hong Kong
