Malaysian born artist Eric Can first made his name on the Southeast Asian contemporary art scene with his slightly blurred floral paintings that looked like photographs taken through a diffused lens. A few years ago, he moved into a new direction by depicting, in large scale, reverse negative portraits done by old European masters (16-18th century), stripping the figures to the bare essential as if X-raying the original paintings and their central characters. In his recent show in Singapore, Chan came full circle by juxtaposing colourful floral and faunal motifs with these reverse monochromatic portraits.

Chan is regarded as one of the finest painters of his generation. Precociously accomplished yet harbouring a distinctive sensibility, Chan’s vision and confidence surpass his years. Trained at LASALLE-SIA College of Arts, Singapore, Chan went on to complete his formal studies with both a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Art, graduating with distinction in painting, and a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). Since graduating in 2000 he has held exhibitions in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Australia. He has taken up art residencies and won several awards including the Philip Morris Jurors� Choice Award in 2002. His work is also featured in the Contemporary Art auctions of Christies and Sotheby’s. Eric Chan currently lectures at LASALLE-SIA College of Arts and is based in Singapore.