YU Peng
于彭1955–2014, Taiwan
YU Peng (1955-2014)
Born in Taipei, Yu Peng was a self-taught maverick artist much admired worldwide for over three decades. Creative and impulsive, he studied with the artist Chen Yigeng and explored various visual arts media from in and oil, to woodblock printing and clay. At age twenty he joined the military and from then on travelled extensively, making his living as street artist. In the 1980s, his world travels inspired him to reflect on his cultural origins and to investigate the visual environment and spirit of traditional literati culture. He has had innumerable solo and group exhibitions worldwide including, and his art has been collected by major museum institutions, including the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
| 1955 | Born in Waishuangxi, Taipei |
| 2014 | Passed away in Taipei |
Selected Solo Exhibition
| 2025 | After the Gaze: 10 Years Remembering Yu Peng, CANS Space, Taipei; CANS Teahouse, Beijing |
| Yu Peng Oil Painting Exhibition, Soka Art, Tainan | |
| Clarifying the Mind at a Thatched Cottage – Yu Peng Solo Exhibition, Soka Art, Taipei | |
| 2024 | Beyond Free-Spirited – Yu Peng Solo Exhibition, Soka Art, Taipei |
| Only Recalling the Kunlun Peaks – The 10th Anniversary Memorial Exhibition of Yu Peng, Wistaria Tea House, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| Taipei Dangdai 2024: Tranquil Listening – Yu Peng Solo Exhibition, Taipei Nan-Gang Exhibition Center, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| 2022 | A Tribute to Yu Peng, ine Art Asia, The Ink Society, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, China |
| 2020 | YU PENG: Strange Rocks in the Creek, A Concept Gallery, Hong Kong |
| The Garden of Osmanthus Bustling Spring, Liang Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| 2019 | A Wanderer Between Heaven and Earth – Yu Peng and His Life Work, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan |
| 2014 | Cloud Roots Unsevered and Causing A Stir on Earth – Farewell Yu Peng, Wistaria Tea House, Taipei, Taiwan |
| Peng Yu Solo Exhibition, In ART Space, Tainan | |
| 2013 | Being Mountain from a Vertical Orientation or Apex from a Sidelong – Solo Exhibition of Yu Peng, Moon Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan |
| 2011 | Loyalist Migrant Hermit, Wistaria Tea House, Taipei, Taiwan |
| 2010 | Life is a Halo on Candle, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong |
| roaming, San Shang Arts Center, Hang Zhou | |
| Black Tiger Woodblock Print Exhibition, Tso gallery(Gallery 100), Taipei | |
| 2007 | Cattage Project—Solo Exhibition in Gui Yin Lu, Sanshang Art, Beijing, China |
| 2005 | Imagery in Wuyi—International Tour Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Sanshang Art, Beijing, China |
| 2004 | Yu Peng Paintings and Pottery, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong |
| En Transe, Bateau-Lavoir Art Gallery, Montmartre, Paris, France | |
| Transforming, LIN & LIN Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| 2001 | Pure, Exotic, Archaic and Strange: New Paintings by Yu Peng, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong |
| Landscape of Desire – Sea Charm, Providence University Art Center, Taichung, Taiwan | |
| 1998 | Yu Peng One Man Show, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong |
| 1998 | Exhausting extraordinary peaks for a sketch – Recent Works of Yu Peng, KAIKODO, New York, USA |
| 1995 | Solo Exhibition of Yu Peng’s Sculpture, Hanart TZ Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan |
| Solo Exhibition of Yu Peng’s Ceramics, Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney, Australia | |
| 1994 | The Melancholy Joy in Yu Peng’s Brush, Taiwan Tsinghua University Art Center, Hsinchu, Taiwan |
| Western Materials and Chinese Sentiment, Pacific Cultural Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| 1993 | Solo Exhibition of Painting, Yellow River Art Center, Taichung, Taiwan |
| Solo Exhibition of Painting, Gallery Yang, Munich, Germany | |
| Solo Exhibition “Five Women”, Hanart TZ Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| Yu Peng Space, Hanart (Taipei) Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| 1992 | Roaming Through Ten Thousand Valleys, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong, Taipei, Taiwan |
| 1991 | Garden of Pure Enjoyment, Hanart TZ Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan |
| Yu Peng: A Contemporary Chinese Painter, Asian Arts Center, Towson State University, Towson, United States | |
| 1990 | Solo Exhibition in New York, Hanart TZ Gallery, New York, USA |
| Feast on the Grass, King Stone Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan | |
| Better to Watch Ducks Than People, Wistaria Tea House, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| 1989 | Solo Exhibition in Hong Kong, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong |
| Solo Exhibition in Taipei, Hanart TZ Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| 1988 | Solo Exhibition, Hanart Gallery Inc., New York, United States |
| 1986 | Solo Exhibition, Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong |
| 1985 | Solo Exhibition of Ink Painting, Artist Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan |
| 1983 | Solo Exhibition of Pastel Painting, Chian-Jyu Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan |
| 1981 | Solo Exhibition of Sketch, Blue Lamp Gallery, Athens |
| 1980 | First Solo Exhibition of Watercolor, Qiu Yuan Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan |
Selected Joint Exhibition
| 2026 | PULSE PROFILE: Palpating Dots and Strokes, Mind Set Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan |
| 2023 | Horizons: Is there anybody out there?, Antenna Space, Shanghai, China |
| The Subtext – Beyond the Words, Liang Gallery, Taipei | |
| 2022 | Individuals, Networks, Expressions, M+, Hong Kong |
| 2021 | No Common Man-Master Taiwanese Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition, Yiyun Art, Taipei |
| The Serenity of Restraint, Liang Gallery, Taipei | |
| Eternal Symbols of the Orient: Post-War Chinese Art, Art Basel Hong Kong Galleries, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong | |
| 2020 | Eternal Symbols of the Orient: Post-War Chinese Art, Art Basel Hong Kong Galleries, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong |
| 2016 | Afterwork, Para Site, Hong Kong |
| 2013 | The Origin of Dao, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong |
| 2012 | Time Games: Contemporary Appropriations of the Past, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei |
| 2012 Ink Painting: 2012 International Ink Painting Exhibition and Symposium,National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| 2011 | Contemporaneity of Revisiting Historical Paths, Gallery 100, Taipei |
| 2009 | The New Aspect 2009 Exhibition of Contemporary Cross-Strait Ink Paintings, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung |
| Beyond China: The New Ink Painting from Taiwan, Michael Goedhuis, London | |
| 2008 | Form, Idea, Essence, Rhyme: Contemporary East Asian Ink Painting Invitational Exhibition, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan |
| Return to Reclusion-Zheng Zaidong and Yu Peng, Zhangjiang Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai | |
| 2007 | Journey, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA |
| Styles of Radical Will: The Multiform Nineties: Taiwan’s Contemporary Art, Soka Art Center, Beijing, China | |
| A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-tsing Li Collection 1950-2000, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, United States; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, United States; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, United States; Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, United States | |
| Conjunction with reboot: the third Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu Museum of Modern Art, Chengdu, China | |
| 2006 | A Yellow Box in Qingpu: Contemporary Art and Architecture in a Chinese Space, Qingpu, Shanghai, China |
| The Odyssey of Art in Taiwan 1950-2000, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China | |
| Imagery in Wuyi—International Tour Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; Sanshang Art, Beijing, China; Germany | |
| 2005 | Ink Painting Dreamland, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei |
| Yu Peng, Cheng Tsai-tung, Chiu Ya-tsai Hing Tung-lu: Four Taiwan Artists, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong | |
| 2004 | Place/Displace: Three Generations of Taiwanese Art, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung |
| Contemporary Ink Painting and Ink in Contemporary Art, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei | |
| The Yellow Box: Contemporary Calligraphy and Painting in Taiwan, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| The Transitional Eighties: Taiwan’s Art Breaks New Ground, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| Taiwanese art branches out: The multiform nineties, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| The 4th International Ink Art Biennale of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Art Museum, Guanshanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen, China | |
| Asian Traffic Phase One, Asia – Australia Arts Centre, Sydney, Australia | |
| 2003 | Shanghai Design Art Exhibition (Ceramics Exhibition), Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China |
| Discourses on Love: 64 Conversations in SARS’ Era, IT Park Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| 2002 | Asian Art Week: Landscape of Desire – Sea Charm, KAIKODO, New York, USA |
| The Traveler: Six Artists from Taiwan, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Oklahoma, USA; New York, USA | |
| The 3rd International Ink Painting of Shenzhen: Metropolis Ink Painting, Guanshanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen, China | |
| 2001 | Pu-Jiang International Ink Painting Invitational Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Pujiang, Hangzhou, China |
| Ten, KAIKODO, New York, USA | |
| Landscape of Desire – Sea Charm, Providence University Art Center, Taichung, Taiwan | |
| 2000 | Close Up: Contemporary Art From Taiwan, Charles H. Scott Gallery, Vancouver, Canada; Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, Canada |
| The New Century of Chinese Ink Painting: The Exhibition of Chinese Ink Painting from Hong Kong and Taiwan, Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, Hong Kong | |
| Anatomy of Ink Paintings, Exhibition Gallery, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong | |
| The 3rd Shanghai Biennale: Shanghai Spirit, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China | |
| 1999 | Visions of Pluralism: Contemporary Art in Taiwan, 1988-1999, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China; National Art Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan; National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan; National Tsing Hua University Arts Center, Hsinchu, Taiwan |
| 1998 | On the Edge of Tradition: Broadening the Vision of Contemporary Ink Art, Dimension Endowment of Art (DEOA), Taipei, Taiwan; Hanart (Taipei) Gallery, Taiwan |
| 1997 | Tracing Taiwan: Contemporary Works On Paper, New York Drawing Center,USA; Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, California, USA; The Parrish Museum, Southampton, UK; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan |
| 1996 | Reckoning with the Past: Contemporary Chinese Painting, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong; Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, UK; Various Locations, New Zealand |
| 1996 Taipei Biennial: The Quest For Identity, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| 1995 | Twentieth Century Chinese Painting: Tradition and Innovation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong; Singapore Art Museum, Singapore; British Museum, UK; Museum fur Ostasiatische Kunst, Cologne, Germany; Netherlands |
| Art Taiwan: The Contemporary Art of Taiwan, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia | |
| Memory Travels: Paintings by Cheng Tsai-tung and Yu Peng, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong | |
| 1994 | Man And Earth: Contemporary Paintings From Taiwan, Centre of the Visual Arts, Denver, United States |
| 1993 | The Infinite Palette: Modern Chinese Painting Exhibition, Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong |
| Views of Hong Kong: Paintings by Cheng Tsai-Tung and Yu Peng, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong | |
| New Art, New Tribes: Taiwan Art in the Nineties, Hanart (Taipei) Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| Chinese Modern Colour-and-Ink Painting Exhibition, Russian Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg, Russia | |
| Disposition and Sensation—Joint Exhibition by Five Artist, Up Art Gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan | |
| Human Figure, Human Nature Joint Exhibition, Up Art Gallery, Kaohsiung; Up Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| 1992 | The Verdant Cliff: Chinese Paintings by Fourteen Celebrated Taiwanese Artists, Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong |
| 1991 | “Individualist Movement” from Taiwan, Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong |
| 1990 | Metamorphosis: Contemporary Chinese Paintings, Luen Chai Curios Store, Hong Kong |
| 1989 | IN INK: Paintings on Paper by Cheng Tsai-Tung, Chiu Ya-Tsai and Yu Peng, Hanart 2 Gallery, Hong Kong |
| 1988 | Review 88, Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong |
| Private Notes: Works by Rex Chan, Oscar Ho, and Yu Peng, Hanart 2 Gallery, Hong Kong | |
| 1986 | Modern Eye, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan |
