Chris Gill opened a studio in Beijing way back in 1992. He has lived and painted in Shanghai since 1997, and this month, for the first time, he is enjoying a solo show at ShanghART. BLOUIN ARTINFO spoke to him about his work.

Having been bumped from the Weihai Lu studio, whereabouts did you paint these works?

I was offered a residency at Tianzifang, a tourist area in Shanghai. It was basically some spare rooms in an old house belonging to Kommune Café. Most of the work was painted in an outside area there, so there was a lot of interaction with the elements. While I was there I also did the Secret 7 project, so there was daily interaction with the public and other artists.

Thinking back, how would you sum up the atmosphere and your mindset during their creation?

It was mostly winter and rained a lot. It was kind of intense coz I was working next to a very busy kitchen, and also a lot of commentary from hundreds of visitors a day. As a painter it was quite a unique experience, because painters of course usually work alone, so it was a real mixture of emotions and experiences. Also as I’d lost my eyesight I was experimenting with new techniques and ways of seeing.


There’s a candy floss color in some of your works I think of as Chris Gill pink. Why do you favor it and how do you like to use it?


I guess I’m a bit of a night owl, often watch the dawn breaking over the city, and it’s often that color. The color is also a kind of representation of Chinese modernism, in my mind, this fairyland.


There’s a lot of unusual materials in the works, from cigarette boxes to one of those trippy Buddhist meditation screens. What other materials are you bringing into your works? Anything you would never ever include?


I tend to approach things with the idea that each painting is a unique piece, rather than multiples….basically it’s just stuff I come across in my life….so could be anything. I don’t think I have any taboos myself, but of course in China there are some elements that can cause upset, especially anything overtly political.


This is your first solo show at ShanghART. To what extent do you see this as a validation of your talent and efforts?


I first showed at ShanghART in 1997, and we’ve worked together a lot over the years, so it seems in a way a gradual progression – I mean in the ‘West’ it would be considered quite normal, rather than all this ‘art superstar’ nonsense. I just had some new work, and it seemed a good time to show it as I will be in Europe for a long period. I am really happy with what the curator, Shi Yong, did with my work. It’s interesting how he interpreted my stuff.


“Chris Gill: New Works” continues at ShanghART through January 5.


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