2014 Bring Back Childhood

Taipei 101 Exhibition

The starting point of this exhibition

Stephen Peng gained his reputation through abstract paintings in contemporary art field — fresh and saturated in style while rich and delicate in color. Since he picked up his brush in 2007, he has been a prolific painter, more unrestrained in terms of the sizes of works and the disposition of the structure of works. This exhibition selects 14 pieces of Peng’s works, applying two kinds of categories — “Childhood” and “Returning Home” — as the perspective of this demonstration, which aims to show the recent transitions of style and the direction of experiments of the artist. This exhibition also participated in the “Reading in Hope Program” by the CommonWealth Magazine Education Foundation, creating works with the Kaohsiung City Jin-Jhu Elementary School — exploring the vision of mind that the position-taking of the artist and the children can be exchanged.

The total amount of the net income of this exhibition will be donated to set up the first charitable art trust in Taiwan, which will be specifically spent to subsidize the education and development of art. This action aims to fulfill the artist’s dream of repaying his hometown. Through this deed, it also attempts to set up an example and to gather up people to devote to the art education in Taiwan. We therefore hope all young students with untamed thoughts and unlimited innovation will be able to transcend the limitation of reality, and to make the beauty of childhood a lifelong belonging,
just like their home of mind.

About the Artist

Stephen Peng was born in Hsinchu, Taiwan in1947. His first painting exhibition was held in 1969. He diverted from a painting career to business in 1970. Since then, designing and manufacturing handbags became the operational goals of his company. He immigrated to Australia in 1979. He then set up factories in China, designing bags for many international brands, including Diesel, Guess, Cerruti 1881, Benetton, Delsey, Calvin Klein, and Levi’s.

Since Peng picked up his brushes in 2007, abstract paintings have been the main field of his creation. Without the burden of an academic discipline, years of experience in commercial design came to be the foundation of his style of painting. Through his arrangement of the abstract and the concrete scenes (with the former taking the leading role), a panorama of the boundless universe is caught and the vigorous thoughts in the inner world are responded. Accordingly, through his works, the viewer can converse with colors, self, and the real world.

Childhood 

“Childhood” can refer to growth, a kind of energy, the center of one’s memory, and the starting point of everything. Initiating from his memories to childhood with experiments or with curiosity, this represents an artistic characteristics of Peng’s life.

Returning Home

“Returning Home” refers to nostalgia, return, a warm commitment, and the belonging of life. Peng seeks the homeland of his inner world through the use of color without limitation in the material world.

Life in Color 2014

In October 13th till 14th, 2014, Peng created 3 paintings along with 47 students from Kaohsiung City Jin-Jhu Elementary School. He then created two more paintings in memorial of the scene and impression of this school.