PATRICK  WARSING  CHU  FOON

DATE OF BIRTH: October 3, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH: Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
EDUCATION:
  • Rosary Boys' RC School
  • Tranquillity Intermediate School
  • University of the Americas, Mexico (B.A., Fine and Applied Arts, 1967)
  • Academia San Carlos, Universidad National de Mexico
  • CAREER:                                 Although he was an abstract artist, Chu Foon became well-known in Trinidad & Tobago as a sculptor. In 1963, he won the Hemisphere Scholarship and attended the University of the Americas. He was the first Trinidadian artist to exhibit work at the International Salon, Museum of Fine Arts, Mexico. He returned to Trinidad from Mexico in 1968 and worked at the Trinidad & Tobago Ministry of Culture until 1988. From 1962 to 1991, he held several solo exhibits abroad and in Trinidad. He also held three exhibitions jointly with his wife, Lisa Henry Chu Foon, in 1986, 1988, and 1990. He created a statue of the famous Indian statesman Mahatma Gandhi which went on display in 1969 at Kew Place in Port-of-Spain. However, his most popular sculpture was the statue of calypsonian Lord Kitchener which was mounted in 1994 in the circle at the western end of Woodbrook, opposite the old Roxy theatre.
    AWARDS:
    • 1960 - Chase Manhattan Award for Painting
    • 1983 - Trinidad & Tobago Humming Bird Medal Silver (for Sculpture)
    DIED: July 12, 1998, in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, by drowning.
    Compiled by Ronald C. Emrit