Additional information
| Artist | Ho |
|---|---|
| Country | American, Chinese |
| Region | North American |
ArtistHo, Ken
Artist Years1959-living
Artist NationalityAmerican, Chinese
TitleSummer in the City, II
Year2022
MediumPainting > Oil
Dimensions48 X 66 inches
Description
Oil on canvas, signed and dated at lower right
NotesKen Ho was born He Keren, on 24 February 1959 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. His father, He Jihang, and mother, Huang Ruping, were civil servants in the city government. Although his childhood environment would appear mundane and not inducive to an artistic life, Ho proudly claims a genetic susceptibility to art - an uncle, Zhao Ruichun, was a Professor of Printmaking at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, and a cousin, Zhao Jingang, trained at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Printmaking Department, emigrated to France in 1984 to pursue a career in art and became a successful artist.
In 1976 following a high school education, Ho enrolled in the Mechanical Technology Department of Wenzhou Wool Spinning Factory, preparing for a blue-collar job. There he learned mechanical drawing, blueprint making, and using large machines. Soon after, he entered Wenzhou Mining Machinery Factory where he worked as a machinist and sheet metal worker. This traditional blue-collar job paid the bills but did not fulfill his desire to become an artist.
In 1985, Ho enrolled in the Printmaking Department of Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now China Academy of Art) to study art, and in 1988, taking advantage of opportunity, Ho emigrated to the US. He settled in Corona, Queens, New York and established himself as part-time art and antiques restorer, but ways nurturing his passion for art by painting. His favorite motif is portraiture, his style bold, brash, and direct. He likes to paint portraits of famous people as he sees them in his mind’s eye, and in very large formats. In 2017, his oil painting "Stock God" a portrait of Warren Buffett, was displayed on the huge NASDAQ LED screen in Times Square.
Besides portraiture, Ho likes to paint social scenes in a frozen moment of time reminiscent of Edward Hopper, landscapes in a loose impressionistic style conveying a dynamic sense of motion, surrealistic compositions a la Magritte, and images of political satire in his own, unique, style. Ken Ho currently lives and works in his Corona, Queens, NY home and studio with his wife Xuping.
(source: askART.com)