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= Simon Birch (artist) = Simon Birch is a British painter and installation artist.

Early years
Birch was born in Brighton, England in 1974.

As a child, he would always be drawing comics or painting and was influenced by his mother, who worked as an art teacher. At 16, with little academic success, he left school and began working odd jobs in the Midlands in England, eventually pursuing an interest in urban dance music as a DJ and promoter.

Hong Kong
In 1997 after losing one of his closest friends to gang violence, Birch left the UK permanently, settling in Hong Kong, just before the former British colony was handed back to China. Upon arrival, he found work as a construction labourer on the Tsing Ma Bridge. Living in the neighbourhood of Sai Ying Pun, Birch continued fine-tuning his work as an artist, developing his own projects, presenting his own exhibitions and cultivating a community of emerging artists, designers, film makers, architects and musicians. Birch’s signature style of dramatic figurative work was soon noticed by the local community and led to commissions, both locally and abroad.

Awards
Birch's series of paintings of Chinese mafia as well as figures falling through air were critically recognised and acknowledged with honours including the 2007 Louis Vuitton Asia Art Award and the 2004 Public Vote for the Sovereign Art Foundation Award, also known as the Sovereign "Manfred Schoeni" Prize. His paintings generated an income that allowed the creation of independent exhibition projects in multiple media, collaborating with emerging and established talent, incorporating film, performance, installation, design and technology.

Personal life
In 2008, at the age of 33, Birch was diagnosed with (NK)/T-cell lymphoma, an aggressive cancer, and was told he may only have six months to live. With the support of his friends, the artist battled the disease with chemotherapy and radiation, diet change and alternative therapies. He has since made a full recovery and shares his strategy with others undergoing cancer treatment.

Since his recovery, he also continues to donate his time and paintings to fund cancer research as well as other charities. He has also contributed his time to schools and universities, spoken at public forums such as Semi-Permanent and TEDx, collaborated with brands like Diesel and Louis Vuitton and is well known for his diverse network; surfers to scientists.

Birch currently resides between Hong Kong and Los Angeles.

Works
Following his battle with the cancer, Birch produced a series of his most-acclaimed projects, including “This Brutal House (2008)” and ‘Hope and Glory (2010)” – a 30,000 sq. ft. multimedia project that is often considered one of Hong Kong’s most ambitious multi-media art projects. His work has since been shown at the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art, London&#x27;s Haunch of Venison, solo installations in Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore, taken over the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, and curated and produced the ‘Daydreaming With…’ project in Hong Kong, an installation with 30 international artists involved.

Birch’s largest scale multi-media installation, ‘The 14th Factory’ debuted in Downtown Los Angeles in January 2017.

List of exhibitions
Selected solo exhibitions:


 * Strange Times (2021)  – Gallery HZ, Central Hong Kong
 * Return To Love Star Collider (2020) – paintings and installation at Lane Crawford, IFC, Central Hong Kong
 * The Barmecide Feast (2018) – installation at The Smithsonian Institute’s National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC, United States
 * The 14th Factory (2017) – multi-artist, immersive show in an empty 150,000 square foot industrial space in Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California, United States.
 * The Meteor (2015) – Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong
 * Hooligan (2013) – Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong
 * Clear Air Turbulence (2012) – Gallery Reis, Singapore
 * Hope and Glory (2011)  – G-DOT Art Space, Beijing, China
 * Laughing With A Mouth Full Of Blood: New Paintings by Simon Birch (2011) – Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, Hong Kong
 * Hope and Glory: A Conceptual Circus by Simon Birch (2010)  – ArtistTree, TaiKoo Place, Hong Kong
 * Raw And Loved (2009)  – AE District, Miami, USA
 * Small Wonder (2009), 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
 * Simon Birch: Out Of the Darkness (2008) - Louis Vuitton Gallery, Hong Kong
 * This Brutal House (2008) – 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
 * Azhanti High Lightning: Rudiments of Life & Death by Simon Birch (2007) – Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
 * The Armenian (2007) – 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong

Selected group exhibitions:


 * Daydreaming with… (2012)  – ArtistTree, TaiKoo Place, Hong Kong
 * Transformation (2011)  – Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
 * Daydreaming with James Lavelle (2010) – Haunch of Venison, London, UK
 * Re-creation II (2010) – Carmichael Gallery, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
 * Looking for Antonio Mak (2008)  – Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
 * Outside Context Problem (2006) – 10 Chancery Lane Gallery Annex Warehouse, Hong Kong