Interview: Wallace Chan Sculpts Time, Light, Life and Rebirth in Venice

Key Takeaways

• Titanium sculptures now feature colour representing birth, growth, rebirth
• Each piece comprises over 5,000 titanium parts and 22,000 screws
• Exhibition spans Santa Maria della Pietà chapel and Scala Contarini staircase
• Long Museum in Shanghai will display larger, walk‑through versions
• Mythos dialogue references Tintoretto’s Paradise and astronomical heritage

Pulse Analysis

Wallace Chan’s Venice exhibition, titled “Mythos,” reinforces the city’s role as a crucible for avant‑garde sculpture. By returning to the Santa Maria della Pietà chapel and expanding into the spiral‑staircase of Scala Contarini, Chan taps into Venice’s rich artistic lineage while aligning his work with the global spotlight of the Biennale. The dual‑venue format creates a spatial narrative that mirrors the exhibition’s thematic focus on birth, growth and rebirth, inviting visitors to experience the pieces from contrasting architectural perspectives.

The artist’s material shift is equally striking. Previously known for monochrome titanium forms, Chan now injects yellow, pink and blue hues to embody life cycles, a decision informed by his jewellery background and the “Wallace Cut” technique that manipulates light within gemstones. Each sculpture consists of more than 5,000 titanium components and 22,000 screws, underscoring a meticulous engineering approach. Water droplets and reflective surfaces echo meditation‑induced time distortion, while the scale—culminating in a 12‑metre tower for Shanghai’s Long Museum—pushes the limits of what titanium can achieve in fine art.

Beyond aesthetics, Chan’s cross‑continental rollout illustrates a savvy market strategy. The simultaneous Venice‑Shanghai programming not only broadens his collector base but also bridges Eastern and Western art dialogues, a trend increasingly valuable in today’s globalized cultural economy. By intertwining historic Venetian settings with cutting‑edge material science, Chan positions himself as a pioneer who reshapes both the visual language of sculpture and its commercial pathways, hinting at even more ambitious installations in future Biennales.