Artwork by Michael Chow
By Jeffrey Deitch
Abstract painting is like a recipe. … I’ve been dealing with recipes for 54 years, so if I can’t paint, who in the world can?”
Michael Chow
You know his name. You almost certainly know his bespectacled face. Chances are good you’ve eaten his food, maybe less so you’ve experienced his art (though he’s hellbent on changing that last part). Equal bits restaurateur, raconteur, painter and performer, Michael Chow is in some ways as famous as the rarified clientele who for decades have supped minced squab in lettuce leaves and clinked cocktails at his swinging eponymous eateries, yet in other aspects, as enigmatic as a person could be.
The recent HBO documentary aka Mr.