US artist Scott Kahn on late-career recognition, first Asia solo show and Hong Kong link
When Matthew Wong revealed he had bought one of Kahn’s paintings, Hong Kong collectors took an interest. At 78, Kahn has first show in Asia
In May 2024, David Zwirner, the blue chip art gallery, announced that it had signed American artist Scott Kahn exclusively and would give the 78-year-old his first solo exhibition in Asia, at H Queens in Hong Kong.
It was the latest step in Kahn’s remarkable rise.
He did not quite start from rags. At his exhibition opening on November 19, the slim, bespectacled septuagenarian said he was a pre-dental student at the University of Pennsylvania who switched to art history and graduated with a master of fine arts. But for decades, his commitment to painting – an art in which he was largely self-taught – failed to earn him recognition, let alone riches.
“For eight years I was living in my cousin’s attic. When Covid came, I was in the attic. I thought I was going to die in that attic, in poverty and obscurity. I thought they’d take me out in a cardboard box,” said Kahn, recalling years of despair.
