Born in Neiwei of Kaohsiung in 1954, Lee Kuang-yu is a renowned sculpture artist who received complete academic training both at home and abroad. In 2006, he retired from his teaching position and fully devoted himself to his artistic creation. By combining both Eastern and Western media, techniques, philosophical thoughts as well as what he learned at school and from life, Li has created his own rhetoric of art that crosses the boundaries of Eastern and Western cultures. His large-scale works of public art can be seen in many places in Taiwan, Europe and America. In his works, viewers can appreciate the heritage of local art development in Kaohsiung that he has inherited and promoted. He has also drawn inspirations from his Eastern cultural roots and incorporated the techniques of Chinese calligraphy and ink painting into his sculptures, adding a sense of aesthetics simulating the beauty of applying different kinds of brush strokes—strong and weak, dense and loose, void and solid, to create a balanced harmony. Li experiments with a diverse range of materials and does not impose any presumed shape or concept on his works. Nor does he seek any certain pattern or any absolute existence; therefore, he is able to find an abstract territory of absolute poeticness.

This exhibition displays totally 50 sets of sculptures and gesture drawings created by Lee from 1986 to 2017. Through this exhibition, the curator aspires to demonstrate to viewers the poetry and passion in Lee’s life as an artist from the three perspectives of “space, poetry and people”.