18 Facts About Stanley Chow

Stanley Chow is an artist and illustrator from Manchester, England.

Stanley Chow grew up in a fish and chip shop and says that living in this environment helped him to become an artist.

Stanley Chow was educated at King's School in Macclesfield and during his time there he was inspired by his sixth form art teacher, Robin Hidden, who was himself an illustrator.

Stanley Chow went on to study at Swindon College of Art on a course which included an exchange placement in Lyon, France.

Back in Manchester, Stanley Chow worked for a time as a club DJ, regularly playing at venues including The Roadhouse and The Night and Day Cafe.

Early work included creating fashion illustrations for the teen magazines Just Seventeen and Sugar, but when his father bought him a computer it changed the way he worked as Stanley Chow found himself being able to send work to clients digitally.

Stanley Chow moved away from drawing and painting and started creating vector-based work using Adobe Illustrator, becoming a full-time illustrator in 2006.

Stanley Chow had made a mock poster for the band and they liked it.

Much of Stanley Chow's work is portraiture, specialising in images of celebrities from the worlds of music, television, film and sport.

Stanley Chow produces work for a wide range of clients including local businesses and internationally recognised brands.

In 2014 and 2015, Stanley Chow's illustrations were commissioned by the Modern Designers agency to promote Chinese New Year celebrations in the city.

Stanley Chow has continued to work with Lego and at the start of 2015 was presented with a Lego miniature figure of himself which he had designed.

In 2015, Stanley Chow designed one of his most high-profile commissions to date.

The project was turned around in the space of a week with Stanley Chow being commissioned on the same day that the idea was thought up.

In June 2014, Stanley Chow launched his first UK solo retrospective which was held at the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art in the Northern Quarter of Manchester.

Stanley Chow reflected on his upbringing in a chip shop by turning the window of the arts centre into a takeaway shop front.

In early 2016, Stanley Chow announced plans to return to the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art for a follow up exhibition which would take place for six months from February as part of the centre's 30th anniversary celebrations.

The new exhibition, entitled InStangram, would follow on from Stanley Chow's previous Takeaway exhibition by presenting 30 new designs featuring food, locations and objects inspired by Stanley Chow's experiences of growing up as an English-born Chinese man in Manchester.