Liu Shih-Tung

Biography

Liu Shih-Tung's works are based on natural and unnatural fragments of culture material collected from daily life. He depicts the real world and constructs a painting space with spirit of oriental poetry by using unique and delicate collage and the aesthetics of creation. His works have long maintained a characteristic of combining fragmented information. Although this fragmented visual information will eventually be united in an aesthetic consciousness and traditional structure, it is precisely these fragments that allow the artist to dismantle and reconstruct the narrative structure and reality of history and memory, forming pictures of life memory.

There is also a conscious or unconscious, random and illogical selection relationship between Liu's collecting behavior and the collected objects. These fragments of civilization, collected and reselected by Liu, reconstitute a seemingly real and imagined urban landscape and atmosphere in the painting. The ultimate image formed by fragmented information thus has a poetic documentary characteristic of collective and individual, as well as environment and life. He expresses the primitive state or his direct feelings in his works, depicting the "traces left by the wind and water" as both realistic and almost abstract scene. Liu exerts his intuition and creativity, letting mountains and rocks freely move and grow on the canvas, just like his free and direct creative attitude. And as he said, "Creating is a trace of adventure for me".

Liu Shih-Tung, born in Miaoli, Taiwan, 1970, received M.F.A. from Taipei National University of the Arts. He has long been concerned with local culture. The "collection" and "reproduction" of ready-mades is his signature style. His diverse and experimental creations have received attention from the art circle both in Taiwan and abroad. His work is in collection of Taipei Fine Arts Museum, White Rabbit Collection, Deutsche Bank Art and so forth. In addition, Liu is frequently awarded and invited as an artist-in-residence. For instance, he received New York Art Creativity Award from Asian Cultural Council Taipei Branch and was in the residence program at Young-Un Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea; at 18th Street Art Center presenting solo exhibition "Bright Eye" in LA, USA. He was selected by Asian Cultural Council to complete a two-month residency program at Morishita Studio in Tokyo, Japan. And also was in the residence program at OCI Museum of Art, Soul, South Korea. His selected exhibitions including Liu Shih-Tung: Cut Out and Mix, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, 2021; Cre8tive report, OCI Museum of Art Residency, Seoul, 2016; The Pioneers of Taiwanese Artists, 1961 – 1970, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, 2014; Time Games, Contemporary Appropriations of the Past, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, 2012; Joyluck Monster, Fubon Art Foundation, Taipei, 2005; Scylla and Charybdis in Love: The Challenges Facing Contemporary Taiwanese Artists, Gwangiu Art Museum, Gwangju ,2004; Neon Light Flash．Flash．Flash, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, 2001; Regeneration, Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwangju, 2001; Abnormal Temple, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, 2000; 1997 Final Roam, Abnormal Temple, Sanchih , 1997, etc.