Introduction

During the daytime, Patrick Lee is a business advisor at Gartner, a major provider of curtain walls and structures. Among others Gartner did the facade of the towering 101-story skyscraper in Taipei, Mori Tower in Shanghai, etc. And at night, after sunset, Lee turns himself into an owner and operator of a restaurant and sake bar called BamBoo. The rest of the time, he is a painter.
Yes, Patrick Lee combines the duties of a businessman and artist quite successfully. He also works as a designer, too, creating new concepts for lounges or discos around the city.

Influences on his painting

Although he started painting on his own at age 10, he never studied art or took any art classes, and so is a self-taught painter. "Then I was in the third grade at elementary school, my teacher ordered me to join the school¡¦s drawing competition -- in which we had to imitate a famous painting -- and I won!" Lee recalls. "And then I joined the contest every year." It was a rather simple start.

In the summer of 1989, while Lee was working in the fishing business for some Taiwan fisheries in North American seas, a ban on salmon fishing was imposed and all countries worldwide - except of course, Japan - had to comply with the ban. In a strange twist of fate, Lee was arrested in a US entrapment and ended-up in jail for over 5 years. "Far away from friends and family, I almost totally mentally collapsed, and had to redirect my energy on some activities," he recalls now."I started playing tennis, doing pottery and painting again. That saved me."

Released from US jails for good conduct after 61 months, Patrick came back to Taiwan and got back into business, but the seeds of his painting had grown. His painting is now multimedia on either canvas or wood panels, mixing oil and acrylic paints, inks and powders. His works, primarily lavis, have recently taken a more adventurous turn and combine Chinese arts and calligraphy to modern medias and contexts.

About inspiration, Lee says: "Chinese calligraphy is really very beautiful, but it is always one hundred percent Chinese and conservative. To me, Chinese arts are generally too academic, much too heavy and serious to be decorative on a wall. I try to give a fresh, brand new life to Chinese calligraphy and symbols."

Lee's works are bright and colorful panels with a lot of silver, gold, reds and blacks, a subtle marriage of strong colors resulting in a mellow blend. The texts often visible in the background are extracted from very famous and ancient museum calligraphies of Wang Xi-zhi recomposed in Lee¡¦s manner.

When asked about the next direction of his art, Lee said: "One can never predict what will happen with creativity and creation! Anything is possible."

Exhibitions and collections

Although Lee has painted for many years, he has not held any shows until 2002. The first show at Club75, was followed by one show in Copenhagen (Denmark) and several solo exhibitions in Taiwan. Asian and Western galleries have shown interest in his work, but Lee says he does not feel he has the time or ability to produce the 30 or 40 paintings a year needed for a show. His paintings are on display in his studio, and at BamBoo where a few of his works adorn the walls.

Many business tycoons and arts amateurs in China, Taiwan, Europe and the USA are now collecting Lee's art.

 

認識李紹榮

簡介

白天的時候，李紹榮（Patrick Lee）的身份是嘉特納公司的顧問（帷幕牆製作的專業公司，負責台北101大樓、Mori Tower上海環球經貿大樓、上海浦東經貿大樓及西班牙古根漢美術館...等世界各地知名大樓的外牆裝置工作）；入夜之後，他搖身一變成為餐廳兼清酒酒吧BamBoo的老闆；但在其他時間裡，他是個畫家。
在顧問與畫家的雙重身分之間，李紹榮調適得很好。此外，他還身兼空間設計師，為市區的Lounge Bar和迪斯可舞廳等設計新面貌。

繪畫之路

 

李紹榮自十歲起開始執彩筆繪畫，但他從未接受過美術方面的科班教育，是一位自學畫家。李紹榮回憶道：「在我小學三年級的時候，老師要我參加學校的繪畫比賽，每個參賽者都要模仿一幅名畫，而我拿到了第一名！」「之後我每年必參加這場繪畫比賽。」這是李紹榮單純的繪畫興趣緣起。

1989年夏，李紹榮從事漁獲貿易工作，當時美國為推動北太平洋雙邊漁業協定，保護美國自身漁業利益，在殺雞儆猴的策略下，特意羅織罪名，並設下陷阱誘捕李紹榮。由於命運詭譎的安排之下，李紹榮在美國坐了五年的牢。「在當時遠離親友的情況下，我整個人幾近崩潰，所以我必須讓自己重新專注於某些事情上。」李紹榮回想：「我開始打網球、捏陶、以及重拾畫筆，這些活動拯救了我。」

61個月後，李紹榮因在獄中表現良好被釋放，他回到台灣，重新開始，而這時他的繪畫種子已悄然萌芽了。李紹榮的畫多為複合媒材，以帆布或木板為畫板；使用油彩混壓克力顏料、水墨、粉彩創作。他的作品絕大多數是水墨畫，不過最近他的畫風大轉變，嘗試將中國繪畫、書法與現代的媒材和框架結合。

關於靈感來源，李紹榮說：「中國書法的確很美，但總帶著濃厚的中國味而且保守。對我來說，傳統中國繪畫多為學術性質，過於嚴肅沈重，不適合掛在牆上裝飾，所以我試著為傳統書法和中國圖像符號注入新生命。」

李紹榮的畫作明亮鮮豔，充滿銀、金、紅、黑等色，儘管這些色彩強烈，卻能適切地融合而不突兀，畫作背景常見的文字則是李紹榮仿名家王羲之的書法。

問到他的下一個目標，李紹榮說：「創意是無法被預知的，所以將來什麼都有可能會發生！」

展覽與收藏

雖然李紹榮已執畫筆多年，但是一直到2002年才開始公開展出他的畫作。第一次展覽是在當時台北知名的夜店--Club75，之後接連在丹麥哥本哈根與台灣舉辦過多次個展。不少亞洲和西方的畫廊都對他的作品很感興趣。但李紹榮說，就時間與速度上而言，一年至少產出三十到四十幅的畫作供展覽之用，實在算是不可能的任務之一。他的畫就展在畫室裡，還有幾幅掛在台北知名夜店BamBoo的牆上裝飾。
許多來自中國大陸、台灣、以及歐美的企業家和藝術愛好者，現在也開始收藏起李紹榮的畫作。