THE DAY I SAW A HANDSOME CHAIR

White Plastic Chair: “Magic mirror on the wall, who is the handsomest of them all?” Magic Mirror: “Famed art thou, White Plastic Chair, for thy billions. Yet look beyond, for a chorus of twenty rival chairs have congregated to challenge thy handsome throne!” A chair is far more than a tool of utility; it acts as an anthropomorphic mirror—reflecting shifting culture, social power, technology, and taste across millennia.

Curated by Ricky Lau, the exhibition The Day I Saw a Handsome Chair at the Jiayuanhai (JYH) Art Museum reveals how these everyday objects encapsulate the spirit of their time. To navigate these material narratives, the curator organizes twenty extraordinary chairs through three distinct forms of human folklore: Urban Myths: Chairs that arouse a sense of awe through gravity-defying and ritualistic spectacles. Anecdotes: Chairs embody accidental epiphanies where intimate personal histories and chance breakthroughs permanently reconfigured everyday industrial design. Fairy Tales: Chairs bound by an enchantment of fantastical and whimsical spells.

As one prepares to look at these handsome chairs with a renewed sense of wonder, remember that Magic Mirror is watching: “Gaze deep into the rooms, visitors of the museum... and decide for yourselves which chair wears the handsomest crown.”