Summer Gaze: The Allure Between Body and Nature – Hilo Chen Solo Exhibition

Duration｜
2025.08.02 – 09.12
Opening｜
02/08/2025 Sat. 15:00

Art is the eternal language born from the intertwining of human emotion and nature. In Summer Gaze: The Allure Between Body and Nature, internationally acclaimed photorealist artist Hilo Chen leads viewers into an intimate world where nature and the human body gaze at and long for each other. Each painting is a profound and focused expression of the artist’s exploration of life and desire.

For decades, Hilo Chen has centered his practice around the female nude and floral or fruit imagery. Using photography to capture hyper-realistic details, he then elevates both the human body and nature through the precision of his brushwork. Chen once described himself as a “devotee,” wholly absorbed in every detail of the canvas—from the fine lines of skin and the interplay of sunlight and shadow, to the sheen of glistening perspiration—nothing escapes his meticulous attention. His iconic beach figures are bold in composition and vivid in color, with light and shadow creating an arresting visual experience that tantalizes the senses. Beneath the surface lies subtle eroticism and emotional projection, inviting viewers into a quiet, contemplative dialogue about the relationship between desire and nature.

Born in Yilan, Taiwan, in 1942, Hilo Chen graduated from the Department of Architecture at Chung Yuan Christian University. He moved to Paris in 1968 and later settled in New York. A key figure in the New York Photorealism movement, Chen stands alongside artists such as Chuck Close, Don Eddy, and Richard Estes. Yet, unlike many of his contemporaries who focused on stark depictions of urban landscapes and industrial motifs, Chen carved out a distinctive visual language by portraying Western bikini-clad women in moments of bodily freedom and sensual poise on sunlit beaches.

As art critic Hsieh Li-Fa once said, “Be a person first, then an artist.” This sentiment captures the resilience and sensitivity at the heart of Hilo Chen’s work—a sincerity and depth drawn from lived experience, which lends his art its enduring power.

This Summer Gaze exhibition marks Hilo Chen’s fourth solo exhibition at Apollo Art Gallery since 1993. Featuring works created between 1990 and 2010, this exhibition represents two decades of the artist’s most explosive creativity and mature expression. On display are both oil and acrylic paintings, each exemplifying his relentless pursuit of technical perfection and sensual refinement.

Apollo Art Gallery warmly invites art lovers and the public alike to step into Hilo Chen’s radiant and heartfelt visual world, and embark on an extraordinary journey where art and the senses meet.

→ Hilo CHEN CV