Curator | Wu Hui-fang
Exhibition Executive | Wu Jianan


About the Exhibition
 
 
Text by Wu Hui-fang (Senior Curator, Exhibition Department, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts)
 
The phrase “in harmony with light and dust” is drawn from the Tao Te Ching. It conveys the idea of keeping one’s inner brilliance restrained within the everyday, mundane world, emphasizing an internal glow without boasting. Choosing this as the exhibition title reflects the temperament of Li An-cheng’s life and highlights his unique role in the development of Taiwan’s contemporary ink painting: he neither relied on the orthodox ink tradition nor chased contemporary art trends. Instead, he cultivated a subtle yet distinctive personal style through long-term, independent practice.

Li An-cheng (1959–2015) was born in Citong Township, Yunlin County. From a young age, he was deeply influenced by his father and family. The artistic practice of his older brother, Li Mao-cheng, also had an impact on him. While attending Huwei Senior High School, he studied under calligrapher and painter Jar Song-jen (1926–), revealing his creative potential early on. After graduating in 1979, he moved to Keelung to live with his older brother. In 1987, he held his first solo exhibition at Taipei’s Spring Gallery, further cementing his determination to become a professional artist. Although his artistic training was rooted in tradition, he drew heavily on his rural life and observations. Through the blending and rendering effects of water and ink on paper, combined with the use of calligraphic and flat brushes, he broke away from conventional ink methods and transformed his insights into landscape imagery that balances the figurative and the abstract, filled with deep emotion for the land and nature.

While Li’s works frequently focus on landscape (shanshui), the emphasis is not on depicting natural scenery. Instead, the core lies in how water, ink, and paper interact to create a perpetually evolving space. Mountains are represented by layers of ink tones rather than by physical forms, while water signifies the passage of time rather than serving as a simple spatial background. Meanwhile, blankness is more than a compositional tool; it plays a vital role in the flow of “qi” (breath or air) and visual rhythm. His art often shifts between figurative and abstract styles, offering viewers not an immediately recognizable landscape but an atmospheric field of brush and ink that evokes bodily perception.

This exhibition showcases 50 works and aims to trace the artist’s creative journey while reestablishing the internal context of his ink development. Beginning with changes in living spaces and artistic media across periods, the exhibition illustrates how Li gradually developed his unique artistic language over the years of creation.

Li’s works from the early “Keelung Period” primarily use single-layered Xuan paper. The images are characterized by clear ink tones and abundant moisture, giving them a fluid, airy quality. They also show a tendency to move away from traditional “cun” texture strokes, favoring structures that form naturally from ink. After the 1990s, the contrast between black and white increased, making the planes more distinct. Mountain forms took on a psychological sense of compression and sedimentation, resulting in landscapes that reflect mental imagery with internal tension.

Around 2000, his work grew weightier and denser, with large-scale works featuring overlapping ink layers that built up visual landscapes evoking topographic associations. During this period, ink evolved from merely a tonal element to a tangible substance with a sense of weight. After 2003, with the introduction of Korean Hanji paper, the resilience of its fibers made his brushstrokes heavier and quicker. Characteristics such as flying white (feibai), drag marks, and cracks became prominent, gradually transforming his works from landscapes into abstract forms that more closely resemble atmospheric spaces and rhythms.

After relocating to Kaohsiung in his later years, the intensely bright light and varied terrain of southern Taiwan led to new developments in his art. Despite the dense, heavy ink tones, a penetrating sense of light remains, creating a spatial atmosphere in his late works that differs from that of his northern period.
Li’s distinctiveness in Taiwanese ink art history stems from his long-standing independence from both the institution and the market. He neither established an academic lineage nor followed popular styles, which gave him significant experimental freedom. His work was not driven by formal eccentricity but by his repeated exploration of the same medium, delving deeper and deeper. He did not build his reputation through proclamations but allowed his images to develop inherent power through persistent ink brushwork. This exhibition not only showcases 50 of Li’s works but also tells the story of how an artist, in a brief and quiet creative life, transformed personal experiences, natural perceptions, and media experimentation into a rare, unwavering presence in contemporary ink painting.

 

---

About Li An-cheng

Li An-cheng (1959–2015) was born into a farming family in Citong, Yunlin, and grew up in an environment closely tied to the land and nature. His father, a farmer, greatly valued the beauty of plants, while his mother’s side was deeply immersed in literary and artistic traditions. These influences shaped his creative personality, which was driven by sensibility. In his youth, inspired by his older brother, he pursued painting. Though he never received formal art training, his extensive practice in calligraphy and traditional ink painting laid a solid foundation for his work.

In the late 1970s, Li faced a creative deadlock and personal struggles. He even destroyed his own artworks multiple times. During this cycle of rejection and renewal, he sought to develop his unique artistic language. In 1987, he held his first solo exhibition at Taipei’s Spring Gallery. His vigorous, distinctive ink style drew widespread attention, earning him recognition as a rising artist and a reputation as “a legend in Taiwan’s art scene.” Rather than following traditional landscape (shanshui) symbolism, he constructed his compositions through overall “qiyun” (rhythmic vitality) and brush movement. He allowed mountains, water, wind, and clouds to emerge naturally through fluid expression, producing an almost abstract experience of nature.

In the late 1990s, Li refocused on art as the central aspect of his life. Around 2000, he secluded himself in the mountain forests and in Tamsui’s Hongshulin. During long periods of observing nature and introspection, he refined his ability to balance chance and control with water, ink, and paper. Later, he explored the use of handmade Korean Hanji paper, further broadening the material expressiveness and spiritual depth of ink painting.

In his later years, Li relocated to Kaohsiung in the south, embracing a simpler life, living close to nature, and engaging in everyday labor work. Meanwhile, his art became more reserved and composed. In 2013, he destroyed a significant number of his paintings again, showing his lasting commitment to self-renewal. He passed away in 2015.
Li remained independent of institutional systems throughout his life. Through dedicated, solitary practice, he developed a distinctive ink style and language. His work employs ink painting not only as an art form but also as a means of engaging with nature and life, embodying a profound spiritual dimension rarely seen in contemporary Taiwanese ink art.




Supervisor | Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Kaohsiung City Government
Organizer | Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts
Special Thanks︱Li An-Cheng’s Family, James Yeh, Eslite Gallery