Indulge in Decadence: A Visual Journey for Every Chocolate Lover

The American visual artist Irene Poon was raised in San Francisco’s Chinatown, where her father operated a shop that sold herbal remedies. After completing her studies at art college in 1967, her focus was on the individuals and the community surrounding her, capturing intimate and unexpected moments, narrating their experiences from within. Poon snapped this photograph of her sibling Virginia in 1965 while in a candy store in the neighborhood. The framing appears inspired by vivid childhood fantasies – indeed, chocolate bars have seldom been portrayed in such a startling manner.

At the age of 83, Poon spent 45 years as a curator and art historian within the San Francisco State University art department, contributing to the development of a collection of 300,000 images stored on slides, and organizing numerous exhibitions, including pivotal shows focused on the settlement of the American West and the significant roles played by Asian communities during the gold rush and afterward. In 2001, she released a vital guide featuring 25 influential Asian American artists who had impacted her photography, bringing several to the forefront in print for the first time. In parallel with her professional responsibilities, Poon continued her personal artistic journey, documenting and reinterpreting the evolving visage of Chinatown through the years; those portraits frequently emerging from dramatically lit interiors.

This photograph is part of a new extensive initiative at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which launches in February and aims to be “the first thorough examination of American photography in Europe.” The exhibition, accompanied by a book, will showcase the works of renowned figures such as Robert Frank, Nan Goldin, Andy Warhol, and Diane Arbus, as well as hundreds of other representations of this most inclusive art form from the 19th century to the current day. It is fair to conclude that, among that array of visuals, no other candy shop will resonate as profoundly as that depicted by Irene Poon.