ABOUT
Photo by Samuel Shek @sheklesuk
Donald Shek was born in Liverpool during the 1900’s. He studied at Liverpool University, where he graduated in 2009 with his Master’s thesis being nominated for the President’s Medals Award. He incorporates architectural elements of London into his artwork and mixes a variety of mediums including screen printing, drawing and etching. More recently architectural landscapes have developed into augmented reality spaces that straddle digital and physical spaces. He was commissioned by Kakilang on Augmented Chinatown, an augmented reality tour in London’s Chinatown that explored ideas of identity, cultural symbolism and mythology. Following a residency at ESEA Contemporary (formerly CFCCA) in Manchester and a large production with Kakilang, Donald Shek worked on Augmented Chinatown 2.0 which built upon the previous commission, combining immersive AR worlds with music and drama to explore the layered history of London’s Chinatown.
The issues involved in Donald’s work are a mixture of, questions of cultural origins and the effects of the urban environments on our subconscious. The images are generated using 3D programs and then converted into a 2D image for printing using the silkscreen method, this relationship is linked to comments to our mechanized society where our reality is blurred between the digital world and reality. Early 60’s Avant-garde theorists such as the Situationists and Superstudio have influenced his work both in their method and subject commentary. The work is made both to document current thought processes and to make the viewer question the ideas of origins.
Exhibited
2023 - State-less 無國썹 - Two Temple Place, London, UK (Group)
2023 - Home X - Immersive Performance - Barbican Centre, London, UK (Kakilang Production)
2023 - Home X - Immersive Performance - Cambridge Junction, Cambridge, UK (Kakilang Production)
2023 - Home X - Immersive Performance - Theatre York Royal, York, UK (Kakilang Production)
2022 Home X - Immersive Performance - Sharing Event, Jerwood Space, London, UK (Kakilang Production)
2021 Home X, A Kakilang Production, London and Hong Kong as part of Spark Festival (Commission by British Council Hong Kong)
2021 CAN x TWO TEMPLE PLACE, CAN Festival 2021, Virtual (Group)
2021 Reconnecting, Virtual (Solo)
2020 Augmented Chinatown 2.0, A CAN Production, Chinatown, London
2019 All Maps Under Heaven, Residency Open House, ESEA Contemporary (formerly CFCCA), Manchester, UK (Solo)
2019 Diaspora Summit, Limehouse Nights, The General Assembly, London, UK (Solo)
2019 Augmented Chinatown, CAN Festival 2019. (Commission by Chinese Arts Now)
2018 Secret 7" - The Greenwich Jetty, London (Group)
2018 The Spectator - Print House Gallery, London (Solo)
2017 Skindeep - The Spectacle, The Yard, Hackney Wick (Group)
2016 Secret 7" 2016 Sonos Studio, Shoreditch, London (Group)
2015 London Calling (John Birchall Studio) (Solo)
2015 Secret 7" 2015 at Somerset House (Group)
2014 Secret 7" 2014 at Mother London (Group)
2014 I'm looking for something, someone, somewhere. Hubbub Cafe, Isle of Dogs (Solo)
2013 10x10 Drawing East London as part of Article 25 at the Granary Building Kings Cross, London. (Group)
2013 Peoples' City Photo Exhibit as part of Hidden Liverpool at the Royal School of the Blind (Group)
2013 Affordable Art Fair Battersea as part of Scream Editions
2013 Moniker Art Fair at the Truman Brewery Bricklane London as part of Scream Editions
2013 AAAA Exhibit at Ahrend as part of Clerkenwell Design Week
2013 Mother London Biscuit Building - Secret 7" (Group)
2013 Exhibited at the D3 Sketch Exhibit Fordham University.116 W. 61st Street .New York, NY
2012 Uncontained Day #13 BoxArt / 55DSL Store / Boxpark/ Shoreditch/ London-
Sponsored and Presented by Shellsuite Zombie and 55DSL
2012 Idea Generation Gallery - Secret 7" (Group)
2009 RIBA 66 Portland Place (Group)
2009 LSA Degree show (Group)
2006 LSA Degree show (Group)
RESIDENCIES
2021 CAN x TWO TEMPLE PLACE Residency, Virtual
2020 ESEA Contemporary (Formerly CFCCA) Residency, Manchester, UK.
Publications
2023 - ‘State-less’: The Art of Belonging, ArtReview.com, 30 March.
2023 - State-less 無國界 - Kakilang Festival 2023, LondonArtRoundUp.com, 14 March.
2023 - State-less 無國界 – Kakilang / Two Temple Place, London, SaltertonArtsReview.com, 11 March.
2023 - HOME X – Barbican, London, TheReviewsHub.com, 23rd February.
2023 - HOME X – Kakilang / Barbican, London, SaltertonArtsReview.com, 23rd February.
2023 - Visual Artistry at the Kakilang Festival, VoiceMag.uk, 23rd February.
2023 - REVIEW: KAKILANG’S HOME X AT THE BARBICAN, ToDoList.London, 24th February.
2023 - Home X at the Barbican Review, @allthingsemmersive, 23rd February.
2023 - Home X Review, theStage.co.uk, 24th February.
2023 - Home X, NoProcenium.com, 28th February.
2023 - BBC Radio 4, London, 10 pm, 18th February.
2021 - Theatre Full Stop, Home, Interviews.
2020 - Augmented Chinatown 2.0, TheStage.co.uk, 21st September.
2020 - Review Augmented Chinatown 2.0, StageDoorApp.com, 14th September.
2020 - Audio Tour: Augmented Chinatown 2.0, TheReviewsHub.com, 16th September.
2020 - Review: Augmented Chinatown 2.0, Chinese Arts Now, Oughttobeclowns.com, 15th February.
2020 - CAN Festival 2020 Brochure
2019 - Issue 11 - Gate - SineThetaMagazine
2019 - CAN Festival 2019 Brochure
2017 - Issue 6 - SkinDeep - The Spectacle
2015 - Contribution to SELFZINE - Issue 1
2014 - Featured in Issue 3 - Essential Journal
2013 - Cited in Al Bahr Towers: The Abu Dhabi Investment Council Headquarters by Peter Oborn.
2012 - Featured in SSZ Magazine Issue 3.
2010 - Featured in Designboom for the Arquitectum Design Competition for Omotesando Fashion Museum.
2009 - RIBA President Medals Online Project Gallery
2009 - Shown in LSA Summer Exhibition Book
AWARDS
2023 - Home X presented by the Barbican nominated for the Digital Innovation Award | UK Theatre Awards.
2021 - Digital Culture Awards, Arts Council England, Digital Culture Network - Digital Storytelling, Chinese Arts Now and Two Temple Place.