Geoethics: works by ying kit chan

May 26th - July 16th

Environmental ethics—a philosophical study of the moral relationship between human beings and nature and the value that society extends to the environment—is a reoccurring theme in Ying Kit Chan’s more than three decades of art making.

Utilizing a wide range of media, the artist employs this philosophy alongside Taoist and Buddhist ideologies to examine our relationship with nature, from the mental impact of contemplation to the actions resulting in environmental degradation. The works selected for GeoEthics highlight the artist’s conceptual development and explore environmental ethics through three themes: oil spills, industrial landscapes, and philosophical thought

A Chinese-American artist, Chan has exhibited work in over 200 exhibitions worldwide and has received numerous public awards. Throughout the 1970s, he studied art at the Hong Kong Baptist College, Hong Kong Buddhist College, Hong Kong Polytechnic, and Studio 11. In 1979, he moved to the United States to continue his study and received a BFA from the University of Oklahoma (1981) and MFA from the University of Cincinnati (1983). Since 2003, he has attended the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee (Switzerland) and Paris where attended seminars with some of the world’s most visionary thinkers, including the late Jacques Derrida and Jean Baudrillard. At the University of Louisville, Chan currently serves as the Chairperson of the Department of Fine Arts, as well as an affiliate faculty of the Asian Studies program, the Social Change program, the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research, and as a member of the Humanities PhD Program Steering Committee.