LIN SHIH PAO
Golden Age
Curated by Kate Chang and Kyoko Sato
Artexpo New York 2022 | S.P. ART | Booth 205
Pier 36 | 299 South St, New York, NY 10002
VIP and Press Preview | Thursday, April 7, 4-5 pm
Opening Night Preview | Thursday, April 7, 5-8 pm
Public Fair Hours | Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9, 11-7 pm | Sunday, April 10, 11-5 pm
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Lin Shih Pao (b.1962, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese artist based in New York since 1995. He is currently an artist-in-residence at Crystal Foundation and Park, a program established by Crystal Window & Door Systems Ltd. in New York.
Upon arrival in New York City after living in Japan for 8 years (1986-1994), he was shocked by people’s disregard for pennies. Pennies, he noticed, were ubiquitous on the street, yet no one picked them up. This American apathy was even more curious for Lin, who, after a stay at a Zen temple in Japan, came to believe there is a spirit in everything, including pennies. Lin allowed his curiosity to unfurl, and as a result, one of his most famous pieces was born. Pennies for Peace (1995-97) was made of one million donated pennies, earning him the moniker, “Penny Artist,” in New York City.
Since then, recycled materials have served as his primary material source. His ongoing series, Chinese Zodiac (2018- ), consists of zodiac symbols constructed from thousands of donated New York MetroCards. Similarly, he gathered 25,000 baseballs to create The Tree of Hope (2019), and collected 25,000 used mobile phones to create F1 Like Car (2015). In 2006, he collected two hundred thousand pacifiers to form a Christmas tree piece. In 2005, he was invited to make a piece called Gate of Wisdom for the World’s Fair in Aichi, Japan, for which he collected three hundred thousand pens.
Now, he brings his refurbishing lens as artist-in-residence to the Crystal Foundation and Park. As soon as Lin saw discarded window materials at the factory of Crystal Window & Door Systems, he saw an opportunity for rebirth. He gathered trash and built sculptures with it for Golden Age, his latest series. He heated, reshaped, and gilded PVC in a style not unlike the gorgeous, baroque architecture in the Disney classic, Beauty and the Beast (2017) —a miraculous story about love and the transformation of life.
Each of his “affectionate” works — as Lin puts it — reveals people’s stories of life and love, layered with experiences and dreams, piece by piece, item by item. In his Golden Age paintings, Lin ambitiously gives us an, “Endless view of the universe,” adding in both a passionate nostalgia and a yearning for new, scientific imaginations. With gold, he emphasizes his optimism and love for humankind, as if to say every single person’s life is infinitely radiant and complex. Lin’s work also integrates Asian philosophy and art styles. A collage of traditional Asian painting techniques with modern media, Lin’s work is uniquely post-surreal.
According to past records, his Pennies for Peace (1995-97) was once considered for the United Nation’s permanent collection, but was ultimately rejected based on discriminatory politics in response to his Taiwanese heritage. However, Lin shows us that art resists boundaries and transcends limitations imposed by political borders. He, and his dream for peace, are empowered by like-minded dreamers who refuse to imagine limits in the first place. I cannot help but long for such dreamers to appreciate Lin Shih Pao’s limitless imagination this Spring in Golden Age.
— Kyoko Sato, Curator
Kyoko Sato is a Japanese independent curator based in New York City. She planned and materialized the exhibition Ancient Queens and Goddesses: Treasures from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum and The Kobe City Museum, Japan in 2014. In 2017, she joined the roster of renowned international curators at WhiteBox, the original Chelsea alternative non-profit art space, organizing a major historical exhibition, EXODUS I, A Colossal World: Japanese Artists and New York, 1950s – Present (2018) including works by 55 multifarious, significant artists including Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Yayoi Kusama, Yoko Ono, Shigeko Kubota and Hiroshi Senju. At present, Sato is a consultant to the Crystal Foundation and Park, NY as well as a US and Latin America consultant to tagboat.com, the largest online art gallery in Asia.
