Fafa Interlude : Last Night

Artist Charles Chau sets for major Vancouver Solo exhibition

AT Art & Interiors and Low Tide Properties are pleased to present, Fafa Interlude: Last Night, an exhibition featuring a series of abstract artworks by Canadian Chinese artist Charles Chau (b1963). Curated by Allison Thompson, of AT Art & Interiors, the exhibition is an interim review of artist Charles Chau’s latest body of work — in-between the artist’s debut show of the Fafa series, Why do I paint the flower pink? (Fafa 1, Hong Kong, 2020) and his upcoming exhibition, When do you last kiss the clouds? (Fafa 2, Tokyo, 2022). 

The exhibition opens February 3rd, 2022 and runs until February 6th, 2022 at

852 E Hastings St, #220

Vancouver, Canada.

Friday to Sunday, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm.

All works will be available for purchase. 

The repetitive syllables ‘fa-fa’ are chosen as it mimics baby talk with repeated sounds – ‘fa’ the Cantonese pronunciation of ‘flowers’, and fa-fa for the benefit of an infant learning in sweet talk. As Charles Chau states: “I started Fafa 1 in search of pureness and joy of a 5-year-old playing with colours on canvases. Obviously, the little ones have grown a bit since my last exhibition. So, presented here in this exhibition is a faithful record of what the child has grown up to ‘see’ — the unpredictability of ‘nature’ that also becomes an important part of the ‘nurture’ of any childhood development.” 

Charles Chau is a Hong Kong born contemporary artist currently residing in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Many art critics have described his work as drawing inspiration from classic Chinese calligraphy, urban architecture and master painterly styles. His latest body of work, the Fafa series, is a deliberate attempt to break away from his former signature monochromatic works, the Mountain Vastness black and white series, that explored contained emotions — now liberated with the artist’s unique brushstrokes and multitude of colours. 

Fafa Interlude: Last Night features 33 pieces of the artist’s large-scale paintings, works of Fafa 1 and Fafa 2, some of Chau’s most celebrated body of work and now presented for the first time in Vancouver. These paintings are the artists impressions of nature and the world, changing through time, sharply articulated with his versatile vocabularies of colours. The artist speaks about his work as follows: “We know not every night is the same, nor the form or colours of any event. That this is the moment, and that moment while you seize it is gone. Every night is, in a way, a Last Night. 

The only thing one might still get a hold of is perhaps some of the fragmented memories — the smell, the colour, the loose images. And those sensational recollections are subjective or dispositional, perceived differently by everyone.” 

“In this large-scale solo exhibition, Fafa Interlude: Last Night, artist Charles Chau plays around with several colour palettes to elicit open-ended conversations. The result is striking and stimulating. It displays the inherent subject deviation and the contextual perspective of individuals at different points of interest and time. Thought provoking and certainly touching. We invite you to be elevated by Charles’s world of colours.” 

Allison Thompson, curator of the show

You may now click the following image to download the Interlude e-Catalogue

Charles Chau is a graduate of the University of Hong Kong in Philosophy and Art History. In 2019, the artist was commissioned to paint a mural depicting Okanagan Chinese history in downtown Kelowna, BC. The documentary, Flowers & Fruits, recently won the ‘10 Best’ title of China’s Roots Film Awards 2020, and was also shortlisted for the 3rd Edition, Cypress Archaeological, Ethnological, and Historical Film Festival 2020. He currently serves as Board Advisor (non-executive Chairman) to the Tokyo-based Sky Design Awards, a premier international award celebrating world-class architecture and designs. 

More recent solo exhibitions include: 

Why do I paint the flower pink? | Fafa 1 - June 2020, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong Mountain Vastness | White Series - April-June 2014, The Opposite House, Beijing Mountain Vastness | Black Series - September 2013, The Fringe Gallery, Hong Kong 

For more information:

Low Tide Properties - www.lowtideproperties.com 

AT Art & Interiors - www.allisonthompsonstudio.com 

Aleph Magazine - www.alephmagazine.com 

Charles Chau - www.charleschau.ca

For all press enquiries contact: 

Allison Thompson 

Work: (604) 992 - 7204 

Email: atartandinteriors@gmail.com 

About Charles Chau