Local artist Leland Lee opens solo exhibition in Moscow

2017/05/02

Taiwan artist Leland Lee, who was diagnosed with autism at 18 months old, opened his first solo exhibition in Russia April 25 at the Khankhalaev Gallery of Moscow’s Central House of Artist.

The exhibition, titled “To Russia with Love” and running until May 15, showcases 13 of Lee’s works. All of the pieces are from the artist’s Russia series and focus on subjects such as Russian nesting dolls and the Kremlin.

Displayed alongside the exhibition are three nearly 10-meter-long murals, each of which depicts a place or occasion that holds sentimental value for Lee, according to Karen Lee, the artist’s mother. One of these murals portrays Xiahai City God Temple, a historic place of worship in Taipei City’s Datong District.

Generally categorized as art brut, which is unpolished and often goes beyond the confines of what is traditionally considered fine art, Lee’s paintings vividly portray his unique view of the world, said Dmitrii Polianskii, head of the Representative Office in Taipei for the Moscow-Taipei Coordination Commission on Economic and Cultural Cooperation. He went on to liken the artist’s works to those of Henri Matisse.

Following one of Lee’s previous exhibits in Taipei, Polianskii observed that his paintings are a kind of personal reflection that inform the viewer about his life and bring awareness to autism. “It’s possible to understand him through these paintings,” he said. “I think a lot of people in Russia will find his paintings very interesting.”

Lee’s Moscow show is part of a cultural exchange between Taiwan and Russia co-organized by the Russian representative office and Taipei-based Contemporary Art Foundation. Earlier this month as part of the same project, Russian artists Zorikto Dorzhiev and Dashi Namdakov displayed their works at a gallery in the Taipei 101 skyscraper.

“I think this kind of cultural exchange between Taiwan and Russia is very necessary,” said Polianskii, adding that such efforts will help foster cross-cultural understanding.

Lee took an interest in art at a very early age, with his teachers noting his talent when he was just 7 years old, his mother said. In 1999, the Los Angeles Times named him as one of their One Hundred Remarkable Kids, and he has since held exhibitions in countries such as France and the U.S.

In 2014 he was selected as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons in Taiwan. More recently, Lee collaborated with Yahal Technology Co. to develop the app Leland x Astoria, which allows users to view animations of the images in his paintings. According to the Contemporary Art Foundation, the app has been well received by patrons of the Moscow exhibition.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=18&post=114541)