EDUCATION
1994 M.F.A. University at Albany, State University of New York, NY
1985 M.A. University at Albany, State University of New York, NY
1984 B.F.A. Washington State University, WA
HONORS AND AWARDS
2019 Africa Botswana Cultural Exchange Program, U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
2018 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, permanent collections, United States Department of State, U.S.A.
2013 First Place, National Yu-Shang Competition, Taiwan
2013 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Poland, Warsaw
2012 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Namibia, Africa
2011 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Copenhagen
2010 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Taiwan
2008 Africa Botswana Cultural Exchange Program, U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
2006 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Hong-Kong
2006 Taiwan President Office, Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition, Taiwan
2006 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Botswana
2006 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Barbados
2005 Artist Grant, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, NY, NY
2003 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies, Manila, the Philippines
2002 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Malaysia
2003 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies, Singapore
2002 Artist Residency, sponsored by Centre D'Art I Natura, Farrera De Pallars, Spain
2001 Fourth Place in Painting, Lorezo Il Magnifico Award. The Biennial Internationale Dell’Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Florence, Italy
2001 Sotheby’s - New York Foundation for the Arts Fellows’ exhibition, NY, NY
2000 Helena Rubinstein Fellow, The Helena Rubinstein Foundation, NY, NY
2000 Artist Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, NY, NY
1999 Artist Grant, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, NY, NY
1999 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies program, Amman, Jordan
1998 Artist Award, New York State Assembly, NY
1998 Juror’s Award, Gazette Newspaper Award.
1998 Purchase Award, Albany Institute of History & Art, NY
1998 Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Region Juried Exhibition, Schenectady Museum
1998 New York State Biennial, New York State Museum, NY
1997 Artist Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York
1997 People’s Choice Award, New York State University, NY
1996 Artist Grant, National Taiwan Art and Humanity Foundation, Taiwan
1996 Mohawk-Hudson Invitational Exhibit, Albany Center Galleries, NY
1996 Artist Grant NYFA/RCCA
1995 University at Albany Purchase Award, Mohawk-Hudson Region Juried Exhibition. 1995 Purchase Award, University of Wisconsin – Parkside, Kenosha, WI
1980 Outstanding Merit, Festival of Youth and Arts, Young Artists in Asia Competition, HK 1979 First Prize in Painting, Republic of China , Ten Outstanding Young Talents, Taiwan
SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Bangkok Art And Culture Centre, Bangkok, Thailand
2021 America University Museum, Washington D.C.
2019 Farglory Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
2019 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, Botswana Embassy
2018 United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, permanent collections, American Institute in Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan
2017 Art Beijing, China
2016 Transit • Transformation ─ Solo Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan
2016 Concerto Chapter IV, University Arts Center, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
2016 Mingshan Art & Modern Art Gallery, Taiwan
2016 Route, Wellington Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2015 Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
2015 Modern Art Gallery, Mingshan Art, Solo exhibitions, Taiwan 2014 Taipei Art Fair with Mingshan Art and Guan-Xian Art Gallery, Taiwan
2014 Scope Art Fair, Miami, FL
2013 Mingshan Art, Taipei, Taiwan
2013 Taipei Art Fair, Guan-Xian Art Gallery, Taiwan 2013 Asia Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan
2012 Fond Museum, Beijing, China
2012 Modern Art Gallery, Taiwan
2012 LWFA, New York, NY 2011 Mingshan Art, Taiwan
2010 Modern Art Gallery, Taiwan
2009 Glass Garage Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2009 Allen Sheppard Gallery, New York, NY
2008 The Beacon Institute, Beacon, NY
2007 Allen Sheppard Gallery, New York, NY
2007 Glass Garage Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2007 Haen Gallery, Asheville, NC
2006 Carla Massoni Gallery, Chestertown, MD
2005 The Butler Institute of American Art Museum, Youngstown, OH
2005 Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for Arts, Atlanta, GA
2003 Scott White Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA
2001 Elementos, Reed Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2000 The Four Elements, Pollock-Krasner Foundation/Arnot Art Museum, NY
2000 The Four Elements, Lung Men Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
1998 Water vs. Fire, Albany Center Galleries, Albany, NY
1998 Water vs. Fire, Lung Men Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
1997 The Harbour and the Open Seas, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, IL
1997 The Harbour and the Open Seas, Yates Art Gallery, Siena College, NY
1996 The Harbour and the Open Seas, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
1996 The Harbour and the Open Seas, Lung Men Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
1996 The Harbour and the Open Seas, Albany Center Galleries, NY
COLLECTIONS
Freedom Tower World Trade Center, New York
United States Department of State, Washington
Farglory Group, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Cathay United Bank, Taipei, Taiwan
National Taiwan Fine Art Museum, Taiwan
Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Art, Taiwan
E. Sun Bank, Taipei, Taiwan
UC San Diego, San Diego, CA
Sun Products Corporate, Wilton, CT
Johnson & Johnson
SL Green Development, New York, NY
Barclays Capital, New York, NY
Barclays Capital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Eileen Mason, Deputy of National Endowments of the Arts, USA
United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, USA
Butler Institute of American Art
Freshens Inc. Atlanta, GA
Siena College, New York
Albany Institute of History & Art
University at Albany, State University of New York
University of Wisconsin, Parkside, WI
State University of New York
Art Pool, Budapest, Hungary
Phoenix Life Insurance Company
National Taiwan University of Art, Taiwan
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Museum, Taiwan
Bullard, McLeod and Associates, and over 100 private collections
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012 Portsmouth Museum, NH
2011 The Haen Gallery, USA
2011 LWFA Gallery, New York, NY
2010 Mingshan Art, Taipei, Taiwan
2009 Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater, MA
2002 Art in Embassies Program, the Philippines, Jordan, Singapore, Barbados, China, and Moscow, United States Department of State
2006 Taiwan president Office, Taipei, Taiwan
2006 2 X 13 Gallery, NY, NY
2006 Allen Sheppard Gallery, NY, NY
2005 Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD
2005 Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
2005 Carla Massoni Gallery, Chestertown, MD
2004 Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery, Pasadena, CA
2004 Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, VA
2004 John Pence Gallery/Arnot Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
2002 Scott White Contemporary Art, CA
2002 Beyond the Landscape, University of California, San Diego, University Gallery, CA
2001 Florence Biennale, Florence, Italy
2001 Re-presenting Representation, Corning Incorporated Gallery, New York, NY
2000 Zone of Myth: Between Tenderness and Tension, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taiwan 1999 Visions of Pluralism, Contemporary Art in Taiwan, Taipei Art Museum, Taiwan
1999 Art Music Dance, The Art Center Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY
1999 Arnot Art Museum, Re-presenting Representation IV Exhibition, Biennial, Elmira, NY 1997 Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, NY
1996 10th Parkside National Small Print Exhibition, University of Wisconsin
1996 First Annual National Juried Small Works, Chuck Levitan Gallery, NY
1996 Small Works International, Amos Eno Gallery, NY
1996 Large Small Work ’95 International, Slowinski Gallery, NY
1996 National Work on Paper Exhibition, St. John’s University, NY
1996 9th Parkside National Small Print Exhibition, University of Wisconsin-Parkside
1995 Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
1995 Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
1994 University Art Museum, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY
1994 Russell Sage College Gallery, Troy, NY
1985 University Art Museum, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY
JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES
Taiwan Panorama, Vol. 41, No. 11, November 2016
Taiwan Tatler, Vol. 9, No. 100, September 2016
Artist, No.496, September 2016
Art Trade Journal, June, 2014
Marie Claire, July, 2014
Water Front Home and Design, Fall 2005
Art New 2001, Summer Edition
Vision of Pluralism, Contemporary Art in Taiwan, 1988-1999, Mountain Art Museum
New American Paintings, Number 14, The Open Studio Press, February 1998
Taipei Art Fair 1997
International Asian Art News, Vol. 8, No. 2, March/April 1998
Chinese Art News, April 1998
Modern Art Bi-monthly, No. 64, 1996, Taipei Fine Art Museum
ARCH, August 1998, No. 103
Dialogue, April 1998, No. 013
Vogue, April 1998
Harper’s Bazaar, April 1998, No. 100
VIVI Magazine, April 1998
Unitas, September 1998, No. 167
Gleaners, June 1996
Natural Beauty, June 1996
REVIEWS
ARTCO, No. 290, Vol. 290, November 2016
Art Investment, No. 108, October 2016
American Art Collector, 2011
Taiwan Central News, Taiwan, Nov 2010
Taiwan Apple News, May 2010
Botswana Daily News, Gaborone, Botswana, April 2008
Poughkeepsie Journal, Spring 2008
The Chronogram, April 2008
Times Union, Albany, NY August 2008
Troy Record, Troy, NY 2008
The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, NY, June 2008
UPSTATE Magazine, Fall 2007
Richmond Review, November 2007
Art and Antiques, Dec 2007
Art in America, May, 2006
Artco, Asia, 2006
Piedmont Review, Atlanta, GA April 2005
Atlanta Journal-Constitutionl, GA, March 6, 2004
The Times Union, Albany, NY, March 2001
Art News, summer edition 2001, May 2000
The Times Union, Albany, NY June 1999
Metroland, Albany, NY, September 18, 1997
Chicago Reader, May 23, 1997
Metroland, Albany, NY. May 17, 1997
The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, NY, May 8, 1997
Metroland, Albany, NY. June 19, 1997
The Times Union, Albany, NY, May 1996
The Times Union, Albany, NY
PUBLICATIONS
Art Solo -- Flower or Not, 2014
Collaboration Between Chen-Long Lin and Leigh L. Wen -- Turbulent Sea Rouses Slumbering Earth, 2008
Earth, Fire, Air, and Water, 2000, Lungmen Art Gallery
The Harbour and the Open Seas, 1996, Taipei Fine Arts Museum
Leigh Li-Yun Wen Prints and Drawings, 1995
My paintings express my personal and cultural histories. Having grown up on the island of Taiwan, I have a deep affinity for the elemental power of water and the forces of nature. As a Chinese now living in America, I feel the ebb and flow of competing cultures. The ancient philosophies of my homeland, which teach self-discipline and selflessness, collide and mingle with Western notions of ego, alienation, and desire.
My working method is a process of subtraction from darkness to light. I carved into the paint with a stylus to bring forth the individual lines that are the central motif of my work. These lines flow across the canvas in rhythms and frequencies that create depths and swells on the painted surface. Something of the self is lost in the resulting tangle, and then regained, only to be lost again. Simplicity and harmony exist within the chaos of the world.
Color is used to expand the work’s emotional range; my palette is drawn not from appearances but from the lyric and psychic necessities of my art. The uniformity of line, from edge to edge and painting to painting, implies a suppression of the artist’s hand in favor of an objectivity learned from nature. In spite of this, the work remains deeply autobiographical.
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