Scott KahnOnce in a Blue Moon | David Zwirner

David Zwirner is pleased to present an exhibition by American artist Scott Kahn at the gallery’s Hong Kong location. Once in a Blue Moon will feature a body of new paintings that focuses on different types of full moons—with its myriad connotations—as their central compositional element. Also on view will be a selection of landscapes from throughout Kahn’s career, several of which include the moon, often glimpsed in the background, materializing as a sort of omen for the scene laid out beneath. Viewed together, these works exemplify the artist’s distinctive approach to the genre. This will be Kahn’s first solo presentation in Asia and his first with the gallery since his representation was announced in May 2024.

Rooted in his everyday life and experiences, Kahn’s enigmatic landscapes, portraits, and dreamscapes blend real and surreal elements. The artist has remained committed to a figurative mode of expression over the course of more than five decades, using a distinctive formal language to achieve a nuanced and poetic rendition of the simultaneous splendor and mundanity of the world around him. His surfaces are meticulously constructed according to precise geometries and chromatic and spatial relationships, wherein the artist employs perspective and light to establish an illusory sense of depth that underscores the resonances imparted by the recurring cast of people, places, and symbols. Kahn’s works evidence his individual point of view while opening out onto universal themes, offering viewers a conduit through which to access a wide range of emotions.