Taiwanese painter blends art and life in retrospective
Taiwan Today
February 18, 2011
TAIWAN - For Taiwanese painter Liu Keng-i, there is no distinction between art and life—there is just the work he does. “Painting is my life. I have tried to capture the scenes in my life as they pass in front of me,” the 72-year-old artist said Jan. 20 at the opening of “Aria of Life,” a retrospective on his art and life at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Sixty oils and pastels as well as dozens of pieces of handcrafted furniture, on view in the TFAM through April 3, provide a glimpse into the mind of this visionary artist. Son of the renowned Taiwanese painter Liu Chi-hsiang (1910-1998), Liu Keng-i acknowledged the lifelong influence of his father, who was representative of the Japanese-educated generation of Taiwanese painters. Liu Chi-hsiang studied art in Japan when Taiwan was under its colonial rule (1895-1945). "His pieces create a musical church, and I felt the peace and comfort inside it." Religious architecture made a similar contribution to his pictorial art. "In a dimly lit local temple he discovered a brown tone that fit his expressive purposes. Nature is my spiritual homeland, and not much is left of it in Taiwan anymore,” Liu said. [link]
February 18, 2011
TAIWAN - For Taiwanese painter Liu Keng-i, there is no distinction between art and life—there is just the work he does. “Painting is my life. I have tried to capture the scenes in my life as they pass in front of me,” the 72-year-old artist said Jan. 20 at the opening of “Aria of Life,” a retrospective on his art and life at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Sixty oils and pastels as well as dozens of pieces of handcrafted furniture, on view in the TFAM through April 3, provide a glimpse into the mind of this visionary artist. Son of the renowned Taiwanese painter Liu Chi-hsiang (1910-1998), Liu Keng-i acknowledged the lifelong influence of his father, who was representative of the Japanese-educated generation of Taiwanese painters. Liu Chi-hsiang studied art in Japan when Taiwan was under its colonial rule (1895-1945). "His pieces create a musical church, and I felt the peace and comfort inside it." Religious architecture made a similar contribution to his pictorial art. "In a dimly lit local temple he discovered a brown tone that fit his expressive purposes. Nature is my spiritual homeland, and not much is left of it in Taiwan anymore,” Liu said. [link]
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