A metallic sculpted figure with defined muscles and styled hair stands on a platform. Its shadow is projected large on a wall behind, reflecting the same detailed features. The scene is lit dramatically in black and white.

Whiskey Chow

Whiskey Chow is a London-based artist, activist and Chinese drag king whose practice engages with political issues and related topics: queer(ing) masculinity; problematising the nation-state across geographic boundaries; interrogating stereotypical projections of Chinese/Asian identity; and enabling empowerment by queer-reading ancient Chinese myth. Chow’s work is interdisciplinary and spans performance, moving image, sculpture and experimental printmaking.

Chow trained in Performance at the Royal College of Art, and has been teaching there as an Associate Lecturer since 2019. Her previous involvement in feminist and LGBTQIA+ activism in China influenced her creative approach, which is informed by queer migrant identity and art-activism (often intersectional, diasporic and offering a non-Western perspective within Western contexts).

Selected UK and International performances and exhibitions include Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Art House (Wakefield), V&A, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art and National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul). In 2020, Chow launched, curated and performed in 'Queering Now 酷兒鬧'; a curatorial programme amplifying and championing queer Chinese/Asian diaspora voices in the West.

1. Whiskey Chow, Phoenix Chow, 2024. Image courtesy of the artist and QUEERCALL Festival. Photography by Manuel Vason
2. Whiskey Chow, Before Phoenix, 2023. Image courtesy of the artist. Photography by Yu Chen
3. Whiskey Chow, you must everywhere wander 你必顧盼, 2021. Image courtesy of the artist. Photography by Ning Zhou
4. Whiskey Chow, Queeropometry (after Yves), 2022–present. Image courtesy of the artist.
5. Whiskey Chow, Masculinism, 2018. Image courtesy of the artist. Photography by Orlando Myxx