YANG Pei-Chen
YANG Pei-Chen (b. 1970) was born in Taipei, Taiwan. He graduated from the Department of Fine Art, Taipei University of the Arts in 1999. Afterwards, he studied in Spain and received his MFA from the Universidad de Salamanca in 2003, and was granted his PhD candidate status from the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia before returning to Taiwan’s New Taipei City, where he lives, teaches and continues making art. In 2014, he completed his doctoral dissertation and graduated cum laude, with his PhD degree signed and issued by King Juan Carlos I. He has been teaching at the Department of Sculpture, National Taiwan University of Arts since 2011; and since 2018, he has been a full-time associate professor at the Department of Sculpture, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, and has given short-term lectures at Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts and Northeast Normal University.
Yang is one of the representative hyperrealist sculptors in the Chinese contemporary art scene. His works are all created out of complete wood blocks that are exquisitely carved by hand and elaborately colored for mimetic effect, rendering them extremely realistic and almost impossible to tell that they are wood sculptures. The Object of Memory Series created during 1997 and 2015 is a series of realistic sculptures based on specific historical objects, portraying the people as well as the feelings and memories associated with the objects. The History Series started in 2016, on the other hand, focuses on a more profound, reserved and tranquil depiction of centuries-old European books, expressing the culture and history embodied by the objects.
Education
1970 Born in Taipei, Taiwan
1990 BFA., Taipei National University of the Arts, Taiwan
2001 Master degree in Fine Arts, University of Salamanca, Spain
2004-08 Lecturer, Cheng Jung Christian University, Tainan, Taiwan
2011-17 Assistant Professor, Taipei National University of the Arts, Taiwan
2014 PhD in Fine Arts (sculpture), University of Valencia, Spain
2018 Associate Professor, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing, China
Selected Solo Exhibition
2020 A Beautiful Encounter—A 10-Day Exhibition by Yang Pei-Chen, CHINI Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2018 Tranquil Vastness: From Memory to History Solo Exhibition of Yang Pei-Chen, Yu Hsiu Museum of Art, Nantou, Taiwan
2016 Engraving Memories III, Moon Gallery, Taichung
2012 Engraving Memories II, Huashan1914 – Creative Park, Taipei
2010 Engraving Memories, My Humble House, Taipei
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020 Art Taipei, Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1, Taiwan
2019 LET There Be Books, Art Museum of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing, China
2018 Difference: 2018 China Datong Sculpture Biennial, China Sculpture Museum, Shanxi, China
Images of Love, Hsinchu Contemporary Art Gallery, Hsinchu, Taiwan
2017 And Now There Are All: Mystery Cases in Contemporary Art, Kaohsiung Museum, Taiwan
Texture of Time, Exhibition of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Context of Materials, Asian Art Exhibition of Youth Contemporary Wood Sculpture, Miaoli, Taiwan
2016 Situation of Existence, Contemporary Realist Art in East Asia, Yu-Hsiu Museum of Art, Nantou, Taiwan
Transformations: Contemporary Media and Manifestations, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Cross-Design+ x Art+, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan
Reforms, 30 Years of Contemporary Global Sculpture Artists Invitational Exhibition, Big House Contemporary Art Centre, Wuhan, China
Wander in Wood, International Wood Sculpture Exhibition, Sanyi Wood Sculpture Museum, Miaoli, Taiwan
2015 The Glory Reappears, 30 Years of Taiwan Artists Exhibition, Yilan, Taiwan
2013 Contemporary Sculpture of Taiwan in Post Expansion Era, FORMOSA sculpture Biennial 2013, The Pier Art Centre, Kaohsiung
2011 International Sculpture Arts Exhibition in Seoul, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
2010 Decade of Reform New Chinese Art History, Beijing National Convention Center, Beijing
2008 Dream of Butterfly, 2nd Document Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
Selected Awards
2019 Annual exhibition of Teacher’s Works of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, China
2001 The Excellence Prize, International Prize of Sculpture Elisa, Spain
Selected Collections
2016 Leather Jacket No. 7, the White Rabbit Gallery, Australia
2013 Boots No. 3, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts
2004 Bathrobe No. 1, Sanyi Wood Sculpture Museum
Towel No. 1, Sanyi Wood Sculpture Museum