Bathing And Sunbathing Women In Photorealistic Paintings Of Hilo Chen

In many parts of Europe and America, the beach season has already started. Summer is in full swing, and that's the time to look at the works of American Taiwanese-born artist Hilo Chen (b. 1942). Even if you don't have the opportunity to relax on the seashore, watching his photorealistic women, you'll probably feel like being on the crowded beach with naked bodies close. There's no shame, no social distance anymore, only seductive body parts of sunbathing females and the sea in the background. 

Fig. 1. Beach #148 (conchigliadivenere.wordpress.com)

Fig. 2. Beach #147 

Fig. 3. Beach #146 

Fig. 4. Beach #154 

Fig. 5. Beach #153 

Fig. 6. Beach #62 

Fig. 7. Beach #37 

Fig. 8. City #6 

Fig. 9. Beach # 145 

Fig. 10. Beach #173 (gushiciku.cn)

From Architect To Photorealist

Chen didn't start as a professional painter. His way began with studying architectural engineering at Chung Yien College, from which he graduated in 1966. In 1968, after a brief stay in Paris, Chen relocated to New York City, where he lives and works nowadays. Probably, it was the development of the photorealism movement in the 1960s that became a driver of his artistic career. The first exhibition of Chen's works happened in 1974 at Louis K. Meisel Gallery. Since that time, Chen has been holding numerous expositions in museums across the world. His works are placed in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, and the San Jose Museum of Art. 

Fig. 11. Beach #110, 1986 (conchigliadivenere.wordpress.com)

Fig. 12. Beach #114 

Fig. 13. Beach #94 

Fig. 14. Beach #120

Fig. 15. Beach #170 (artsy.net)

Fig. 16. Beach #162 

Fig. 17. Beach #79 

Similarities And Dissimilarities

In his paintings, Chen depicts women in a voyeuristic manner catching a glimpse of female private parts. This approach is quite justified in the beach setting, where bikinis often slip off the body parts because of the sea waves. Unlike photorealist Terry Rodgers, Chen seems to be more adherent to minimalism in his paintings. He doesn't pay much attention to the setting, so it usually lacks specific details. While, along with a group of naked or semi-naked bodies, Rodgers depicts elegant objects of the interior, Chen takes a close-up of the one female body. We can see the texture of a woman's skin, which palpability is emphasized by water droplets covering the body. Some paintings resemble the works of pop artists. Chen's close-ups of female breasts and depictions of legs can remind you of the series by Hilo Chen's contemporary Tom Wesselman (Seascape #10, Bedroom Painting #11, Seascape (Tit), and others). 

Fig. 18. Beach (lembranzas-ines.blogspot.com)

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Click HERE for an article on the bedroom paintings of the American artist Tom Wesselmann

Sources: Wikipedia.org; conchigliadivenere.wordpress.com 

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