Monsters, freaks and death themes: artist Oscar Chan on confronting his fears in Hong Kong exhibition

Chan’s dense compositions in black ink and graphite are a portal into a dark world that both repels and captivates. He says it is cathartic to give shape to his fears

Works the Paris-based but Hong Kong-born artist created in the past two years can be seen in his solo exhibition in the city, Don’t Leave the Dark Alone

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Paris-based artist Oscar Chan is sharing his nightmare world of horror, fear and monsters in a long-awaited exhibition in Hong Kong. Photo: Oscar Chan

Published: 3:15pm, 27 Aug 2021Updated: 3:38pm, 27 Aug 2021

Grotesque, terrifying and desolate it may be, but you can easily get trapped by the monochrome netherworld created by Paris-based Oscar Chan Yik-long, whose skills and imagination are on spectacular display in a rare Hong Kong solo exhibition.

Monsters jostle for space in dense compositions of ink and graphite; giant rows of freakish figures gaze chillingly at visitors from the gallery walls; a three-metre wide circular carpet swirls with strange plants and creatures, a portal into a dark world that both repels and captivates.

These are a selection from the Hong Kong-born artist’s prolific output from the past two years, which also includes a series of pencil drawings created during lockdown last year.

Speaking from his home in France, the 33-year-old says it is not his intention to frighten people. Rather, he thinks it is cathartic to give shape to fears.

A menacing crowd in 120 Judge John Aiso Street. The name references the address of a church in a 1987 horror film. Photo: Jess Ma

He began to make large murals with death-related motifs in 2015 for an exhibition called “The Devil, Probably” at Observation Society in Guangzhou, when he covered every inch of wall space with ghosts and ghouls.