Kuo Wei-Kuo

Biography

In Kuo's works, the figure of himself and various elements are transformed into stage characters, which are either abstract, figurative or realistic. The artist lifts up the mask of pretense in real life, moves and hides in this dream-like magical space in order to reconstruct a truer self-image. The post-apocalyptic scenes, as Kuo said, " reveal a sense of sadness of life's journey that has been recorded as time has passed". The alienation in spatial attribute of the works also imply the possibility of an ambiguous and "continuous" emotional interpretation in the paintings.

Kuo Wei-Kuo, born in Taipei, 1960, graduated from M.F.A of Taipei National University of the Art, Taipei, Taiwan. He co-founded the Taipei Painting School in 1985 and since then he has participated actively in Taiwan's modern art movement. In 1994 and 1996, his works were shown in the Biennale at Taipei Fine Arts Museum. In 1998, Kuo co-founded the Hantoo Art Group and was the first chairman. His works had been exhibited in New York, Paris, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Seoul, Gwangji, Beijing and Chongqing, and he had also held solo exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Today Art Museum, Beijing, and Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei. His works have received international attention and support and have been collected by several important art institutions, such as Taipei Fine Arts Museum, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Hong-Gah Museum, Nanjo Art Museum in Okinawa, Dimension Endowment of Arts, Catcher Educational Foundation, and Kuo Mu Sheng Foundation. Kuo was awarded the eighth Modern Painting Award from Li Zhongsheng Foundation in 2004. In 2005, he was awarded the fifth Liao Chi-Chun Fund of Taipei Culture Foundation.