kai
chen

Kai Chen (b. 1990, Wuhan, China) is a painter based in Shanghai. He received a BFA in Oil Painting from the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts (2012) and an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute (2018).

Chen’s practice explores color, light, and abstraction through large-scale, pointillist oil paintings. Built from thousands of layered dots, each work becomes a constellation of attention and feeling. Through optical color mixing and an intuitive process, his recent Cosmic Series evokes the rhythms of the universe, transforming states of desire and vulnerability into luminous fields that invite reflection and openness.

He received the Headlands Center for the Arts Graduate Fellowship Award in 2018, and has participated in residencies at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel (2020), Leo Gallery (2021, Shanghai), Cruciati Foundation (2025, Pinzano al Tagliamento), and Viafarini (2026, Milan). His work has been exhibited at Leo Gallery (Shanghai), Gloria Gallery (Paris), Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Art021 (Shanghai), Untitled Art Fair (San Francisco), Headlands Center for the Arts, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, Root Division, CARe Doug Adams Gallery, and the San Francisco Art Institute.