Ming Fay is a Shanghai-born and New York-based sculptor, installation artist, and professor. His work focuses on the concept of the garden as a symbol of utopia and the relationship between people and nature. Today he is well known for his large fruit sculptures and mixed media installations. His whimsical yet culturally poignant sculptures are made out of bronze or papier-mâché and often presented in a highly sophisticated way. Born in 1943 into a family of artists, he immigrated to Hong Kong in 1952 where he completed his secondary education. In 1961, the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio awarded him a full scholarship to study design. After graduating in 1965, he worked in a design studio before he discovered his true passion, sculpture. He obtained a BFA degree in sculpture from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1967 and an MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1970. Since then he has resided in New York and devoted himself to his sculptural work. Throughout his career, Fay has been an active teacher and has taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Polytechnic, Columbus College of Art and Design, Pratt Institute, the William Paterson College, and the University of Pittsburgh. In 2007 he was the recipient of the NYFA fellowship in Sculpture. Fay was a member of the board of Directors of the Alternative Museum, The Chinese American Arts Council, The Chinese Information and Culture Center, and the overseas Chinese Renaissance Society.
He has completed numerous public art commissions including a suspended glass and steel sculpture for a residential lobby in Philadelphia, a large-scale tree sculpture in Puerto Rico, sculptural benches for New York City Staten Island Ferry Terminal.
Alisan Fine Arts began representing Fay in 1985, and since then has held four solo exhibitions for the artist. He was included in New Ink Art: Innovation and Beyond held at the Hong Kong Museum of Art in 2008 and curated by Alice King. Fay has exhibited internationally and his works have been displayed at the Whitney Museum of American Art, National Academy Museum, New York; Łódź Biennale, Poland; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong. His works are in the collections of many prominent museums including the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Jersey; He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei; Hong Kong Museum of Art, M+ Hong Kong.
Another solo exhibition in our New York gallery scheduled for the autumn following his untimely passing in February 2025. An important exhibition is set for the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston in 2025.
BIOGRAPHY
1943 Born in Shanghai, China
1952 Moved with his family to Hong Kong where he completed his secondary education
1965 Diploma, Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, Ohio, USA
1967 BFA, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
1967 Taught in University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA
1968-1969 Taught in Fine Arts Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
1970 MFA, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA
Lecturer, Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, Ohio, USA
1971-1974 Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
1975 Lecturer, Hong Kong Polytechnic, Hong Kong
1978-1980 Lecturer, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, USA
1981-2016 Professor in sculpture, William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey, USA
1982 Co-founded the Epoxy Art Group in New York, USA
1990 Workplace Programme Resident, Dieu Donné, Brooklyn, New York, USA
1992 Art Partner Programme, Lila-Wallace - Reader's Digest Fund, New York, USA
1994 Residency Programme, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Grant, Brooklyn Centre for Innovative Editions, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
Residency Programme, Urban Glass: New York Centre for Contemporary Glass, Brooklyn, New York, USA
1995 Arts/Industry Residency Programme, John Michael Kohler Arts Centre, Kohler, Wisconsin, USA
2000-2016 Visiting Professor & Artist-in-residence, Rinehart School of Sculpture, MFA Programme, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
2016 Included in the gallery monography Alisan Fine Arts 35 Years, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
2022 Published artist monograph, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
2025 Passed away in February, New York, USA
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
2023
2022-2023
2019
2024
Legacies: Asian American Art Movements in New York City (1969-2001), 80WSE Gallery, New York, USA
2023
Inaugural Art SG, Alisan Fine Arts, Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore
Storefront for Art and Architecture Fundraising Event, Kurimanzutto Chelsea, New York, USA
2022-2023
2022
Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
NOT A Fashion Store!, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
Made in New York, Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, USA
Power Struggle, Spaces Gallery,Cleveland, OH, USA
SELECTED ART AWARDS
2008 Sculpture Award, National Academy of Art, New York, USA
2007 Fellowship in Sculpture, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, USA
2004 National Endowment for the Arts Grant, Commission Proposal Support, USA
SELECTED PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
2009 NYCEDC, Lippman Plaza, Flushing, Queens, New York, USA
2006 Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia, Tivoli Townhouse, Pennsylvania, USA
2005 Department of Transportation and Public Works, Yauco, Puerto Rico, USA
Whitehall Ferry Terminal, New York, USA
2004 MTA, Delancey/Essex Streets Station, New York, USA
General Services Administration, US Court House, Seattle, Washington, USA
2003 Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon, USA
1995 Percent for Art, Criminal Justice Centre, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Percent for Art, P.S. 7, Elmhurst, New York, USA
1990 Petrosino Square, New York, USA
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
New York University Library Special Collections, New York, USA
New Museum, New York, USA
Portland Museum of Art, Maine, USA
Dieu Donné, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Asian American Arts Centre, New York, USA
Phipps House, Daly Avenue Apartments, Bronx, New York, USA
PS7, Elmhurst, Queens, New York, USA
Exxon Mobil Oil Corporation, New York, USA
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Huntington National Bank, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO, USA
Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, California, USA
Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA
Sidney Lewis Foundation, Richmond, Virginia, USA
Prudential Insurance Company, Los Angeles, California, USA
Ten Main Center, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Pittsburgh National Bank, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
R.J. Reynolds, Salem, North Carolina, USA
He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen. China
Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Howard Plaza Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
M+, Hong Kong
China Club, Hong Kong
Conrad Hilton Hotel, Hong Kong
JP Morgan, Hong Kong
