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"Travel" is such
an amazing word which carries an implication of
visions, expectations, and surprises. Both on
his life's journey and on a railway journey, Lee
Chin-Xian always has a mood for taking a slow
train and being ready to get off at any given
station. He tries to get as close as he could
to the earth, so as to listen to its song.
Countless railway routes keep the traces of
his journey to numerous old train stations in
Taiwan, his appreciation of scenery along the
railway line, or the one hundred steam trains
and his gaze at the moon in those stations. He
is an artist as well as a traveler. Physical movement
has brought him to the ruins of railway station
and the traces of environmental transition. His
representation of reality is way beyond that of
lifeless scenery of mountains and waters. What
he writes and paints is a search of the fine features
of land and people. He reminds himself that to
restore a long lost history one has to go back
to the historical scene, to experience the context
and to trace forefather's footsteps.
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He is both a "railway painter", a
title that spreads wide, and an art history scholar.
His in-depth understanding of the interplay between
history and scenery has also led him to the making
of Map of Ancient Taiwan and Painting Book of
Taiwanese Scenery.
How to strike a balance between painting and
writing? Lee combines these two in a most spontaneous
way: his language is calm and cool, while his
painting passionate.
Since his exhibition entitled "A Gaze at
the Moon in a Train Station" in year 2004,
Lee has leaned more toward a style of simplicity
which is different from that of flamboyance in
the past. He visits the same old station for several
times to represent its subtle differences shown
from different observance angles, in different
seasons and time passages during the same day.
He makes such records with not tiresome effort.
His enthusiasm to maintain railway cultures and
his indulgence in the railway world are equal.
Many people have asked, "What are you going
to paint in the future, as there is no single
inch of railway route not visited by you."
This hopeless railway fan's answer to that question
is his new plan "Original Scenery of Train
Stations: All the Stops along the North-South
Railway Route of 1908". Lee plans to restore
every single train station back in 1908. To do
this, he has to refer to historical document and
literature first. Then he follows the route to
visit all these stations one by one. Some of them
are well preserved, whereas others no longer exist.
And there are still many others that have been
renovated, but somehow the renovation spoilt their
features. So to him, the greatest challenge is
how to represent those many stations now in a
monotonous style. It seems that this confident
painter is again on his way to the journey.
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1945 |
Born in
Taipei City. |
1968 |
Graduated
from National Taiwan Junior College of Art. |
1984 |
Published
"China Art progress toward the Orient". |
1991 |
Columnist
of "Liberty Times ". |
1992 |
Published
"A Progress of Taiwanese Arts". |
1993 |
Published
"Japanese Art History", "Contemporary
Spectrum of Japanese Art", "Great
Background of Ukiyo-e: Live of Edo Philistine",
and other books. |
1994 |
Research
journey to Taiwanese's old train stations.
Published "1994 the last stations ~ Chin-Xian
Lee's Pilgrimage of Taiwanese Old Stations",
and serialized on United Daily News - Nostalgia
Page.
Issued "Image of Water Buffalo - Biography
of Tu-Shui Huang" on Independent Evening
Paper, Lion Art, and other publications. |
1995 |
Column writer
of "Walking into Historical Sceneries"
on Independent Evening Paper - Local page. |
1996 |
Published
"National Aesthetic: Exploration of Humanities
from the Art", "Images of This Land",
"Earth‧Pastoral‧Tu-Shui Huang",
"Biography of Tu-Shui Huang", "Read
Taiwanese Art History", "Taiwanese
Ancient Train Station" (written with
Zhi-Wen Hong), and other books. |
1997 |
Published
"Colors‧Harmony‧Chi-Chun Liao",
"Grace‧Specialness‧Po-Chuan Kuo",
"100 Cultural Spots in Taiwan",
and other books. |
1998 |
Published
"Intelligent Journey of Trains in Taiwan",
"Brilliance‧Intelligence‧Shi-Chiao Li",
and other books. |
1999 |
Published
"Treasure Map of Taiwanese Predecessor
Artists", "Museum Guides for Citizens",
and other books. |
2000 |
Published
"Sketch of Taiwanese Steam Train". |
2001 |
Published
"Art History of Keelung". |
2002 |
Published
"Life of Wan-Chuan Jang", "Ancient
Map of Taiwan", and other books. |
2003 |
Published
"Painting of Taiwanese Sceneries",
"A Mineworker's Dream: Rui-Kun Jiang
Narrates the History". |
2004 |
Committee
Member of Taipei Fine Arts Museum.
Published "Stations' Four Seasons",
"City Memories in Taiwan", and other
books. |
2005 |
Published "Local Art History - Keelung",
"Contemporary Art - Sculpture",
"Green‧Music‧Te-Cheng Liao", and
other books. |
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Exhibitions
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2004 |
Exhibition"Stations
in the Moonlight" in Metaphysical Art
Gallery, Taipei. |
2001 |
Exhibition
"The Starting Point of Zong-Guan Railroad
- Zero Mile" in Keelung Art Center. |
2000 |
Exhibition
"Once Century of Steam Trains" in
Metaphysical Art Gallery, Taipei.
Exhibition "Railroad‧Storehouse‧Impression"
in Taichung Train Station, 20th Storehouse. |
1998 |
Exhibition
"Departure ~ Journey of Railroads"
in Metaphysical Art Gallery, Taipei. |
1994 |
Exhibition
"Last Stations ~ Chin-Xian Lee's pilgrimage
of Taiwanese Ancient Stations" in Metaphysical
Art Gallery, Taipei. |
1993 |
Exhibition
"Emotion within Taiwanese Sceneries ~
To Explore the Vitality of Mountains and Rivers"
in Metaphysical Art Gallery, Taipei. |
1991 |
Exhibition
"The Revival of Taiwanese Social Customs"
in Magnet Art Gallery, Taipei. |
1989 |
Personal
Exhibition in Tong-Zhi Gallery, Taipei. |
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