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“Let us make our own paintings! Enrich ourselves, express our thoughts and emotions, and let go of everything else. Fame, fortune, reputation are nothing but transient. They matter to us not, for human life is limited, the life of the cosmos forever. So let our souls live forever with it!” ──Excerpt from Fu-sheng KU’s“ Art in Paris──First Letter to Artist Friends in Taiwan” (Feb. 1, 1962)
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Exploring the meaning of life is at the core Fu-sheng KU’s creations throughout his extensive career. “Human” remains a central motif in his oeuvres, which are permeated with modernist and existentialist philosophies. The human bodies under his paint brush are mostly deformed and elongated. Such strong expression still stand out today, striking the same visual and emotional chord unaffected by the passage of time.
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“Fu-Sheng KU ’s creative enlightenment began with the individual’s ‘body’ and he strives to capture the ‘present.’ Depictions of distortion and deformation are commonly found in his art.” ──Chia Chi Jason WANG
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“I paint man’s inner self as well as his feelings towards the outer world; man’s relationship with man, or man’s relationship with his surrounding environment and nature. Life is a riddle and a dream. Life is fragile.” ──Fu-sheng KU
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Refining himself through his journey in different places
During his long years of residence overseas, he lived in New York, San Francisco, Portland, among other cities. When he was living in the tranquil city of Portland, his life became calmer and his mind was able to settle down. This was reflected in this works, as there’s a sense of peace and calmness, whether the human body is in action or still. The composition and brushwork became more free and expansive. We can also see KU’s personal connection to the universe and life, as well as more natural scenery in his art.
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At ease with the impermanence of the world
KU settled down in Los Angeles after 2008. He once said that it was the freest creative period of his life. He created larger paintings in his garage-turned-studio, fully indulged in creative play. The depressed and lonely headless bodies in his early works were no more. Instead, there’s a sigh of relief at the impermanence of the world, and the Zen spirit was more pronounced in the characters in his paintings.
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“In the late 1990s, Fu-sheng KU’s works gradually revealed a sorrowful gaze towards illness and death, culminating into a kind of creative energy that emerges from his love for others. Completely different from his earlier focus on the meaning of self-existence, this new facet later brewed into the core exploration of facing death in his later works.” ──Roan Ching-yueh
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顧福生 Fu-Sheng KU
比肩 Side by Side, 2014 -
KU lived a life of carefree bliss. The colors of his later paintings became brighter and more vibrant. Even in the face of illness, art remained his spiritual support through the difficulties. He said: “If one has to choose a way of life, then mine would be painting. Painting is my all—my thoughts, my emotions, all the details of my life are in it.”
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Regardless of the phase of his creative opus, KU's works always exude a strong sense of literary quality and a reflection on life. Under the bold yet subtle abundance of emotions is his deepest fondness for life. In the world of art, KU had constructed his own unique and open-minded view of the cosmic life and death.
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Photography: XIAO Ron / Motion graphic: WANG Da-Wei
