Milano Chow’s practice explores sites and scenarios where reality and its constructs meet. Her intricately detailed drawings combine precise graphite renderings and collaged photo transfers, creating imaginary architectures and framed narratives that elicit stage sets. Based on architectural elevations and antiques, her recent drawings include ornate facades and elaborate clocks, often haunted by the presence of female figures, enhancing the implied voyeuristic nature of her work. Although influenced by the tradition of trompe l’oeil, Chow’s drawings defy true illusionism. Within her surreal compositions, framing elements such as windows and doors create an echo of pictures within pictures. These visual punctures within her otherwise shallow compositions are often obscured by darkness, suggesting the proximity of a nearby unknown.

Milano Chow (b. 1987, Los Angeles, CA) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. She received her BA from Barnard College in 2009 and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2013. She has had solo exhibitions at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT; Bel Ami, Los Angeles; Adams and Ollman, Portland, OR; Chapter NY, New York; and Mary Mary Gallery, Glasgow; among others. Her work has been included in the Whitney Biennial 2019 at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and other group exhibitions at Jeffery Deitch, New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA; Chapter NY, New York; Venus Over Manhattan, New York; STANDARD (OSLO), Oslo; Aspen Art Museum, Aspen; The Drawing Center, New York; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; and the Drawing Room, London, & Modern Art Oxford, Oxford; among others. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.