Frans Hals Museum combines groundbreaking video work by Sin Wai Kin with masterpieces from its own collection

From 22 May to 30 August 2026, the Frans Hals Museum will present the first Dutch solo presentation of the internationally renowned artist Sin Wai Kin. In Sin Wai Kin: Still Life, the moving portraits enter into a dialogue with the museum’s collection, merging the symbolism of 17th-century painting, the glamour of drag and science fiction.

Fantasy to life

Artist Sin Wai Kin (1991, Toronto, Canada) brings fantasy to life in moving images. In doing so, the artist regularly draws on art history and pop culture to critique cultural narratives. In Sin’s work, in which they themselves often play a leading role, make-up and costumes play an important role. Sin was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2022; they are in the collections of Tate Modern and the British Museum, among others. The Frans Hals Museum previously purchased Sin’s video work Tell me everything you saw and what you think it means (2018), which was shown in 2024 in the successful exhibition The Art of Drag.

Dialogue with the collection

In Sin Wai Kin: Still Life, the symbolism of 17th-century painting, the glamour of drag and science fiction merge. In their oeuvre, Sin regularly refers to world-famous works of art, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of Mona Lisa, Caravaggio’s painting of the self-righteous Narcissus, Picasso’s anti-war painting Guernica, and Man Ray’s black-and-white photography. In various rooms, these works enter into a dialogue with the permanent collection of the Frans Hals Museum, including paintings by Frans Hals, Judith Leyster and Leo Gestel. These combinations raise the question of how art has created existing and new realities over the centuries, for example around masculinity and femininity, and who determines what these realities look like.

New work

Commissioned by the Frans Hals Museum, Sin also makes new work, which will be shown for the first time during the presentation. In the video artwork Still Life (2026), the artist’s parents are given the leading role, who are talking to each other over a Cantonese meal. The work deals with themes such as connectedness and transience, as do the classic vanitas and food still lifes from the collection of the Frans Hals Museum with which they are surrounded.

Art from all times

For Sin, the Frans Hals Museum is a fitting place to exhibit their work. ‘Storytelling is central to my oeuvre: how have we created new realities and memories in the course of art history, for example in the way we are allowed or allow ourselves to be portrayed? In the Frans Hals Museum, my work is given a place among art from all eras, in which that principle of storytelling keeps returning. I hope that viewers understand my work better through that context.’

Discussions about identity

Curator of contemporary art Manique Hendricks is honoured that Sin wants to exhibit their work in the Frans Hals Museum. ‘Their art responds to lively discussions about identity as they are frequently conducted today. It is the first time that Sin Wai Kin’s work enters into a dialogue with a historical collection. The fact that this is happening in the Frans Hals Museum of all places fits in perfectly with our starting point that you can understand and appreciate art even better by seeing work from different periods side by side.’