Lenore Chinn

Lenore Chinn
Born (1949-06-20) June 20, 1949
San Francisco, California, U.S.
EducationCity College of San Francisco,
San Francisco State College (BA)
OccupationsVisual artist, activist
Known forPainting
RelativesBenjamen Chinn (uncle)[1]
Websitewww.lenorechinn.com

Lenore Chinn (born June 20, 1949) is an American visual artist, known for her American realist paintings and her queer activism. Chinn was a founding member of Lesbians in the Visual Arts and Queer Cultural Center (QCC), and served on the San Francisco Human Rights Commission.[2] She lives in San Francisco, California.

Early life and education

Lenore Chinn was born on June 20, 1949, in San Francisco, California. She is a second generation Chinese-American.[3] Her mother was raised in Oakland's Chinatown, while her father was raised in San Francisco's Chinatown.[4] Her father was a mathematician and teacher, and her mother was a translator for the United States federal government.[3][5] When Chinn was two years old, her family moved to the Richmond District of San Francisco.[5] The Chinn family was one of the first Chinese-American families to move to the area dominated by white, middle-class neighbors.[5] Because of their position as a minority in a primarily Caucasian area, the family taught Lenore and her younger brother about Chinese stereotypes.[3] In an interview conducted by Rudy Lemcke in 2001, Chinn said, "I grew up with a family model, which offered simultaneously a traditional Chinese cultural framework of community and family, along with the opportunity to embrace non-traditional and non-Asian ideas. In short, my life's journey became a cross-pollination of other world views."[6] These teachings would influence Chinn's artwork.[7]

Chinn attended George Washington High School.[5] She continued her studies at City College of San Francisco.[5] In 1972, while on the Dean's list, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University).[3][8]

Career

Chinn moved to the Castro District in the 1980s and became involved in activist groups, including the Harvey Milk Club.[3] As the AIDS epidemic impacted her life, she started painting portraits of people in the district.[9] Chinn co-founded the Lesbians in the Visual Arts and Queer Cultural Center (QCC).[2][7] In 1991 Chinn joined the Asian American Women Artists Association (AAWAA), based in San Francisco.[10] Her work often aims to fight cultural stereotypes by showcasing minorities and homosexuality.[7][11]

Chinn speaks about her work and about lesbianism. She has spoken at the College Art Association, Women's Caucus for Art, and other organizations. Chinn is also a curator, working at galleries in San Francisco. She has exhibited her paintings at Pacific Union College and the National Arts Club.[7]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

  • Lenore Chinn and John Thomas Staple: Paintings and Sculpture (1980), Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery, 1407 Gough Street, San Francisco, California[14]
  • Out of the Bubble: Artists on Queer Travel (2008), Femina Potens, San Francisco, California; including artists Lenore Chinn, Dusty Lombardo, and Lydia Daniller[15]

References

  1. ↑ Martine, Lord (January 31, 2003). "Focus: Chinatown". San Francisco Chronicle. pp. 67, 72, 73. Retrieved 2026-03-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 "LGBTQ Asian American". Visibility Project. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Lazere, Arthur (December 11, 1987). "Lesbian painter Lenore Chinn isn't "neatly packaged"". Seattle Gay News. p. 19. Retrieved March 9, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Oral history interview with Lenore Chinn, 2023 November 27 and December 11". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. November 23, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Howard, Rachel (June 12, 2012). "'Cultural Confluences' reflects warmth of diversity". SFGate. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  6. ↑ Robertson, Molly. "Lenore Chinn Chronology".
  7. 1 2 3 4 Kara Kelly Hallmark (2007). Encyclopedia of Asian American Artists. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 29–32. ISBN 978-0-313-33451-1. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Lenore Chinn". Queer Cultural Center. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  9. ↑ FitzSimons, Casey (February 1997). "Families: rebuilding, reinventing, recreating' at the Euphrat Museum of Art". Artweek. 28: 1 – via Art Full Text (H.W. Wilson).
  10. ↑ Wong, Flo. "Lenore Chinn".
  11. ↑ "Lenore Chinn: Representing Asian and Lesbian Culture". Life + Style. CherryGRRL. April 4, 2011. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Article clipped from San Francisco Chronicle". San Francisco Chronicle. September 29, 1985. p. 187. Retrieved March 9, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Howard, Rachel (June 21, 2012). "Chinn sees the beauty, confluence in diversity". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 49. Retrieved March 9, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Article clipped from San Francisco Chronicle". San Francisco Chronicle. June 1, 1980. p. 199. Retrieved March 9, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Femina Potens". San Francisco Chronicle. September 18, 2008. p. 116. Retrieved March 9, 2026.
  16. ↑ "LGBT Art: Our Common Wealth". San Francisco Chronicle. July 27, 2014. p. 166. Retrieved March 9, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.

Further reading

  • Latimer, Tirza True, Moira Roth, Valerie Soe and Jennifer Banta. Cultural Confluences: The Art of Lenore Chinn. San Francisco: Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center (2011). ISBN 145075127X
  • Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art and Society, Fifth Edition. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc. (2012). ISBN 978-0-500-20405-4
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