寓懷的行板:劉生容研究展

行板(andante)，為音樂術語之中，彷若不疾不徐行走一般，優雅而從容的演奏速度。本展以「行板」概念，象徵藝術家劉生容（1928~1985）在繪畫、音樂、養鴿等不同領域自由共融的涵養，也借指藝術家幾度往返於臺日之間的生命旅程。同時，更代表劉生容將音樂感性自由帶入畫布，結合傳統文化與現代元素的歷程。

劉生容出身臺南柳營，家學淵源使然，從小便受到相當程度的藝術薰陶，擅長小提琴的聆賞與演奏。受到叔父劉啟祥啟發，從未經過學院訓練的劉生容在戰後的1950年代投身繪畫，創作出多幅具象作品。1960年代，則是劉生容創作生涯的轉折期。他將目光投往當時現代藝術的前緣，毅然轉向抽象，以動態揮灑的筆觸為核心，創作富節奏感的作品。1965年，劉生容有感於好友離世，進一步結合臺灣在地信仰祭儀元素，發展出獨特的燒金拼貼，追求火焰燃燒金紙的不可預測性。1967年起，劉生容與家人定居日本，畫風也逐漸趨向畫面內側無限空間的探詢，以「圓」和燒金拼貼的多變形式為特徵，直至1985年辭世。

本展依照劉生容創作幾大階段呈現其重要作品，並透過相關檔案信件的爬梳和對照，展現「藝術家劉生容」的不同側面：他對音樂和養鴿的熱愛、對家人的情感，與臺日藝術友人之間的往來共鳴等。從童年隨家人移居日本，到青年時期返臺開展創作，又為了追尋藝術養分頻繁來往臺日之間，大量汲取來自日本當地或歐美的藝術新知，最終定居日本岡山縣，可以說，劉生容的創作呼應了當時臺、日二地前衛抽象的發展脈絡，扮演了居中連結的橋樑，更是其中濃墨重彩的一筆，在自身抽象繪畫語彙之中，綻放出璀璨能量。

此外，本展特別邀請當代藝術家李立中以當代創作詮釋角度，爬梳當時曾被譽為「賽鴿之神」的劉生容所留下的珍貴資料。透過賽鴿，當代的創作者與劉生容產生跨越時空的交會，呈現出過往罕為深入討論的劉生容面向與其背後蘊含的歷史脈絡。

Andante, a musical tempo marking,

indicates a passage is to be played at a relaxed, graceful speed described as a

"moderate walking pace." By echoing such symbolic, steady motion,this exhibition celebrates how artist Liu Sheng-Jung (1928-1985) moves freely between the realms of painting, music, and pigeon keeping as well as his many literal moves between Taiwan and Japan. Moreover, "andante" resonates with how Liu Sheng-Jung pulls the unconstrained sentiment of music onto the canvas, combining traditional culture with modern elements.

Born in Liuying, Tainan, Liu Sheng-Jung's family nurtured his artistic development from a young age,fostering a talent and appreciation for the violin. Despite the fact that Liu Sheng-Jung had received little formal art education, he was inspired by his uncle, Liu Chi-Hsiang, and in the post-war 1950s, he began painting, creating many works of figurative art. The 1960s marked a turning point in Liu Sheng-Jung's creative career. He set his sights on the vanguard of modern art at the time, making a clear shift to abstraction in which he created rhythmic works full of dynamic, unconstrained brushwork. After a close friend's death in 1965, Liu Sheng-Jung began to bring together elements from local Taiwanese spiritual worship to create an extraordinary collage from burnt joss paper (also referred to as "spirit money"). Such collages provided Liu Sheng-Jung a medium in which he attempted to capture the unpredictable consumption of the joss paper by the flames. Then in 1967, Liu Sheng-Jung and his family settled in Japan where he began exploring the infinite space available within the canvas. Up until his death in 1985, his work was characterized by circles and collages exploring the varying forms of burnt joss paper.

This exhibition presents important pieces from several major stages of Liu Sheng-Jung's career. Furthermore, by exploring documents and letters from the late artist, this exhibition presents a never-before-seen side of Liu Sheng-Jung the artist, including his love for music, pigeon raising, his family, and his many connections with art colleagues from Taiwan and Japan.

Over the course of his many travels--from moving to Japan with his family as a child, returning to Taiwan as a budding artist, traveling frequently between Taiwan and Japan in pursuit of artistic inspiration, and to finally settling in Okayama, Japan--Liu Sheng-Jung took in vast quantities of new ideas from the art worlds of Japan, Europe, and the United States. It can be said that Liu Sheng-Jung's creations reflect the real-time development of abstract art in Taiwan and Japan and act as a bridge between the two contexts. Perhaps more importantly, such insight allows Liu Sheng-Jung's work to project a rich, colorful, resplendent force written in his very own abstract language.

This exhibition has also invited contemporary artist Lee Li-Chung to examine the documents left behind by the "God of Pigeon Racing," as Liu Sheng-Jung was once dubbed, from the perspective of both researcher and contemporary creator. A pigeon fancier himself, such an exploration allows Lee Li-Chung and Liu Sheng-Jung to interact across time and space in order to present a seldom-presented side of Liu Sheng-Jung and the historical context of the time.