“Kevin Chin’s paintings defy the proclamations, imperatives, and the flatness of the political. They open instead onto some more spacious kind of feeling.”

Artist Profile Magazine

  • Art Guide

    “Chin’s meticulously assembled compositions ask how social, cultural and economic structures shape the world in which we live.”

    Andy Butler

  • The Age

    “This is a panorama not of place, but of a wider set of personal experiences, moods and moments alone - hushed in stillness, but rambling in scope.”

    Dan Rule

  • The West Australian

    “More than a painter, Chin is a storyteller who understands the power of visual cues and strategies, deploying these devices with vividness and confidence.”

    Talitha Wolfe

  • Gippsland Art Gallery

    “Kevin’s paintings have this gentle surrealism to them. They’re not forceful, they just open up slowly.”

    Simon Gregg

  • Time Out Magazine

    “You can get lost in the topsy turvy dreamscapes of Melbourne-based artist Kevin Chin... And they are just the feast for sore eyes that art lovers need to drink in at length.”

    Stephen A Russell

  • Art Collector 50 Things Issue

    “Quietly quirky, beautiful landscapes rife with discombobulated dream-like narratives”

    Jo Higgins

  • The Design Files

    “Exploring universal themes of journey, transition and sanctuary, Chin re-assembles potent symbols.”

    Elle Murrell

  • Bayside Arts Centre

    “The phantasmagorical is unearthed. Chin unravels the nature of reality and allows magic to intervene.”

    Claire Anna Watson

  • Creative Victoria

    “Melbourne-based artist Kevin Chin turns dreams into reality - literally.”

    Sarah Haines

Kevin Chin’s oil paintings piece together distant lands, to examine global connection in divisive times. Uniting varied perspectives, they advocate for a more fluid sense of place for both ourselves and others.

These warm and inviting paintings offer sanctity in a climate of uncertainty. Their dream-like softness is evoked by layering translucent colours in intriguing new ways. It’s this contemplative process that imbues the work with its meditative presence.

Chin pushes oil painting conventions into a more inclusive international canon. He channels inner states, with the aim of transcending worldly borders altogether.

Kevin Chin is the winner of the Bayside Prize (Melbourne) and the Albany Prize (WA), as well as runner-up at the Redland Award (Brisbane) and a finalist in over 20 national prizes. His work is held in major institutional collections including Australian Parliament House, Artbank, RACV, City of Albany, Bayside City, Nillumbik Shire, and La Trobe Uni Museum of Art.

He has presented 20 solo exhibitions across Australia, and internationally in the USA, Japan and Singapore. Public solo exhibitions include Town Hall Gallery, Gippsland Art Gallery, Bayside Gallery, Linden New Art, and West Space. Representing multiple minorities, he has also spoken at various forums including for the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, ABC radio, and many podcasts.

In 2020, Art Collector Magazine named Chin among Australia’s 50 most collectable artists, having also featured him on the cover in 2014. His work has been widely reviewed in Artist Profile, The Age, Art Guide, Time Out, The Design Files, Art + Australia, as well as internationally in Creative Boom (UK), JH News (USA), and Blouin Artinfo.

Chin has been awarded multiple grants from Creative Australia, Creative Victoria, the Ian Potter Cultural Trust, City of Melbourne, City of Yarra, and the National Association for the Visual Arts.

Portrait: Simon Strong

2024 Survey Exhibition

Town Hall Gallery curated the largest showing of Kevin’s paintings to date across all three spaces.

This accompanying video is courtesy of Town Hall Gallery and Julian Filer.

2024 Madrid Residency

Kevin speaks about his development process and research during his month in Spain.

The video is courtesy of #Ey! Studio and Simona Latorre.

Creative Boom Interview UK

This is the first time an Australian artist has been interviewed for this UK-based publication.

In this comprehensive 2023 interview with Dom Carter, Kevin talks about his painting technique, career evolution, and why parts of the paintings are upside down.

Read

Art Collector
Interview

This 12 minute interview with Louise Martin-Chew is a deep dive into ‘Apart Together,’ one painting from the Social Distance series of 2020. Kevin speaks about a range of social issues that continue to influence his work.