2017 The 57th Venice Biennale
To Have and Have Not：
A Simultaneous exhibition with the Venice Biennale by LEE Kuang-Yu
Venue｜Chini Gallery
Date｜4.29 – 6.11
Opening｜5.06   14:00
Artist Talks｜6.03   14:00
Venue｜Remarkable Cultivation Art Museum(No.370, Sec. 1, Linsen Rd., East Dist., Tainan City)
Date｜7.14 – 9.30
Opening｜7.15   14:00

As the Special Project of the San Marino Pavilion of the 57 th Venice Biennale, Lee Kuang-Yu from Taiwan presents his creative works and showcases his artistic achievements during the past 30 years. His new series “Fighting Bull” dedicated to this event and representative works during other periods, in conjunction with documentary, studio archives and outdoor pieces are all part of the exhibition. Lee Kuang-Yu is a success story in the history of sculptures from Taiwan, with his connection and dialogues to the world.

To Have and Have Not conveys two meanings. Firstly, it is the synthesis of Lee Kuang-Yu’s own sculpture aesthetics. Since the 1980s, he has been exploring new spatial relationships in the realm of sculptures. He has developed another type of formal language and aesthetic concept of the “void” that differ from Western sculpture. Lee Kuang-Yu creates the multiple virtual spaces, filled with emotional tensions, with the contrast between fantasy and reality, fullness and emptiness. It is the manifestation of the Oriental aesthetics and philosophy, deep and profound.

Secondly, it is a tribute to the history of the venue. Ernest Hemingway, the wellknown American writer of the Lost Generation, once lived here in the late 1940s and the early 1950s. To Have and Have Not is a title of one of his novels. This exhibition creates with that time period, as our world is becoming uncertain again. In his homage to Ernest Hemingway, Lee Kuang-Yu seeks to depict and reflect the spirituality of our era from a perspective of humanism. It is a response to the theme “Viva Arte Viva” of 2017 Venice Biennale.