Description
WAYNE NGAN (1937- ) UNTITLED stoneware, height 3" -- 7.6 cm., diameter 15" -- 38.1 cm., artist chop on base Provenance: Purchased directly from the artist Note: WAYNE NGAN (1937- ) "Dying is too easy. We're not born to die. We're born to live. Life may be difficult. Maybe pain is everywhere around me, but then living is more of a mystery". - Wayne Ngan - Wayne Ngan's pottery is recognized as embodying the form and spirit of the great traditions of Far Eastern pottery. He is one of Canada's most distinguished potters, having received the prestigious Saidye Bronfman Award as an outstanding Canadian craftsman in 1983. Wayne Ngan was born in Kwantung, China in 1937. During the Japanese invasion of China, he immigrated to Canada with his mother at the age of 13, and was sent to live with his grandfather. He grew up struggling with language and poverty in Vancouver. His personal and artistic achievements can undoubtedly be linked to the strength of mind and body that he developed through this struggle. Ngan put himself through the Vancouver School of Art while working night shift at a local sawmill, graduating in Ceramics in 1963. He soon established his own pottery studio and taught at the art school and at the University of British Columbia, emerging as one of B.C.'s top ceramic artists. In 1965 Ngan had his first solo show at Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, displaying his paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics. He subsequently moved to the rural community of Hornby Island, where he built a home and studio. Throughout his career, Ngan has led workshops and exhibited throughout the world. In 1983, the Palace Museum in Taipei exhibited some of his works, the first time in the museum's history to exhibit a modern piece of pottery. Ngan was one of three distinguished artists featured in the award-winning 2007 film Glimpses of Heaven. He continues to produce and exhibit his art, and recently had an exhibition of his paintings at the Granville Fine Art Gallery in Vancouver. He is the only potter to be given a one-man show at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and his pieces are frequently presented to visiting foreign dignitaries as official gifts from the Canadian government. Ngan lives on Hornby Island, British Columbia. Selected Corporate, Private and Public Collections Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, BC Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, QC Claridge Collection, Montreal, QC Gallery of B.C. Ceramics, Vancouver Island, BC Gardiner Museum, Toronto, ON Morris and Helen Belkin Art gallery, Vancouver, BC Museum of Manitoba Taiwan National Palace Museum Selected Solo Exhibitions 2014 Wayne Ngan: New Works, Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto, ON 20/20 A Celebratory Exhibition, Winchester Galleries and Winchester Modern, Vic, Winchester Galleries and Winchester Modern, Vic Wayne Ngan, The Green Gallery, Milwaukee, WI 2013 Wayne Ngan: Traditional & Contemporary Pottery & Ink Drawings, Dr. Sun Yat- Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Vancouver, BC 2010 Wayne Ngan: Recent Works, Winchester Gallery, Vancouver, BC 2006 Omega Gallery, Vancouver, BC 2005 Omega Gallery, Vancouver, BC Richmond Gallery, Vancouver, BC 2004 Wayne Ngan: New Work, Winchester Galleries, Oak Bay, Victoria, BC Jeff Hsu's Art, Taipei, Taiwan 2003 Pure Abstraction Forms, Portfolio Gallery, Vancouver, BC Wayne Ngan, Masterworks of Ceramic and Bronze, Omega Gallery, Vancouver, BC 2000 An Alchemist of Clay and Colour, Winchester Gallery, Victoria, BC Clay at the Crossroads: Directions in Contemporary Ceramics, Winnipeg Art Gallery, MB 1999 Wayne Ngan: A 20th Century Master, Winchester Gallery, Victoria, BC 1998 Hanart Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 25th Anniversary of Canada-Vietnam diplomatic relations and the 300th Anniversary of the City of Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 1997 Hanart Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 1996 Wayne Ngan: Pottery, Painting & Sculpture, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, BC Reshaping Tradition: Contemporary Canadian Ceramics in Asian Modes, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON Beyond the Rock Garden: Craft Forms for a New World, Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle, WA 1995 Hanart Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 1994 Hanart Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 1993 Hanart Gallery at the Bank of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 1992 A Treasury of Canadian Craft, The Canadian Craft Museum, Vancouver, BC Bronfman Award Recipients from B.C. and their Commonwealth Colleagues,? Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, BC Hanart Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 1991 Works from a Master Potter, Volcano Art Center, Hawaii Cultural Center, Hilo, Hawaii 1990 Hanart Gallery, Taipei The Many Faces of Wanye Ngan, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Vancouver, BC 1989 Franklin Silverstone Gallery, Montreal, QC 1988 Pottery, Painting and Sculpture, Beatrice Jumpsen Gallery, Victoria, BC 1987 Wayne Ngan, The Downstairs Gallery, Vancouver, BC 1983 Conducted a pottery exhibition in Montana Conducted a pottery exhibition, lecture and workshop in Taiwan 1981 Rubaiyat Gallery, Calgary, AB Ontario Craft Council, Toronto, ON 1979 Mitsukoshi Department Store, Sendai, Japan 1974 Potter's Wheel, Victoria, BC 1973-1977 House of Ceramics, Vancouver, BC 1970 Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC 1965 Wayne Ngan: Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture and Ceramics, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, BC Selected Group Exhibitions 2014 Wayne Ngan and Gailan Ngan: New Work, The Apartment, Vancouver, BC 2013 The Apartment @NADA Miami Beach, FL 2012 John Zhao and Wayne Ngan, Omega Gallery, Vancouver, BC Wayne Ngan and Toni Onley, Granville Fine Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC Back to the Land: Ceramics from Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands 1970-1985, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, BC 2010 Vancouver Collects, Gallery of BC Ceramics, Vancouver, BC 2007 On the Table: 100 Years of Functional Ceramics in Canada, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, ON 2006 Omega Gallery, Vancouver, BC 2005 Omega Gallery, Vancouver, BC Richmond Gallery, Vancouver, BC 2004 Thrown: Influences and Intentions of West Coast Ceramics, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC Artists of Canadian Clay, Lacoste Gallery, American Crafts Museum, Concord, MA 2003 21st Century Ceramics in the US and Canada - Art 2003, Carzani Center Galley, Columbus College of Art and Design, Ohio 2000 Clay at the Crossroads: Directions in Contemporary Ceramics, Winnipeg Art Gallery, MB 1998 25th Anniversary of Canada-Vietnam Diplomatic Relations and the 300th Anniversary of Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 1996 Reshaping Tradition: Contemporary Canadian Ceramics in Asian Modes, Royal Ontario Museum, ON Beyond the Rock Garden: Craft Forms for a New World, Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle, Washington 1993 Hanart Gallery at the Bank of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 1992 A Treasury of Canadian Craft, The Canadian Craft Museum, Vancouver, BC Bronfman Award Recipients from B.C. and their Commonwealth Colleagues, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, BC 1990 Selected Treasures from a Treasury of Canadian Craft, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan 1989 Masters of the Crafts, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hulll, QC 1988 Traditional and Modern Chinese Ceramics for the Promotion of Chinese Culture, Hong Kong 1986 The National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan 1984 Wayne Ngan and Paul Soldner, Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI Radu and Smoke, Newport Art Museum, CA Ceramics: Wayne Ngan and Walter Dexter, Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver, BC 1969 Canadian Ceramics '69, Vancouver Art Gallery, BC 1966 Fine Arts Exhibitions, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON 1965 University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB 1964 The New Ceramic Presence, University of British Columbia Fine Arts Gallery, Vancouver, BC 1962 BC Craftsmen, University of British Columbia,Vancouver, BC Selected Awards 1983 Recipient of the Saidye Bronfman Award 1976 1st Prize, B.C. Ceramics, Vancouver Island, BC 1975 Canada Council Grant to study rake 1969 1st Prize in Earthenware on Raku, Canadian Ceramics Selected Links waynengan.com Solitary Artist Wayne Ngan, Vancouver Observer Artists in Their Studio