10 Oct Artist News | Lo Chan Peng | Collected by a Japanese art museum
Amid the global slowdown in exchanges over the past two years due to the pandemic, Taiwanese creators have continued to work diligently, managing to step onto the international stage and earning honors in the form of invitations to exhibitions, acquisitions, and awards. Among them, Lo Chan Peng—renowned for his portrait paintings—is an artist who absolutely should not be overlooked. Most recently, he has achieved the distinction of being the first and only Taiwanese artist to have his work acquired by Japan’s Hoki Museum (ホキ美術館), the country’s first art museum dedicated to realist painting.
Since its opening in 2010, the Hoki Museum has become widely known for its exclusive focus on realist painting. Its collection includes masterpieces by celebrated Japanese realists such as Morimoto Sosuke, Nakayama Tadahiko, the eminent Noda Hiroshi, and Isoe Tsuyoshi, who studied in Spain. The museum also houses works by mid-career and younger contemporary Japanese artists, as well as outstanding European and American painters, providing a remarkably complete record of the development and history of Japanese realist art.
Lo Chan Peng’s inclusion in this prestigious collection is far from mere chance. Not yet forty years old, Lo has devoted himself relentlessly to art since his student days. His tenacious efforts have yielded impressive results, earning him numerous top prizes in major Taiwanese art competitions such as the Kaohsiung Art Award (2008), the Chimei Arts Award (2005, 2007), and the Union Bank New Artist Award (2004). In recent years, he has also received significant international recognition, including the ARC Purchase Award (2022, Art Renewal Center, USA), an Honorable Mention in the Portrait Category (2022, ARC, USA), and the ARC People’s Choice Award (2022, USA), making him one of Taiwan’s most representative contemporary artists.
Even during the pandemic years of 2019–2022, Lo continued to receive invitations to exhibit in New York, Belgium, Japan, Germany, and Russia, drawing enthusiastic responses from local audiences. His works often sell out immediately overseas, keeping exhibition invitations flowing steadily. The acquisition by the Hoki Museum can be traced to the strong reputation he built through his masterful technique at the Osaka Art Fair, which impressed museum representatives enough to purchase his work—establishing a landmark as the first Taiwanese artist collected by the Hoki Museum.
Beyond these impressive credentials, even those encountering Lo’s work for the first time are often astonished by his exceptional technique. This is evident in the painting The Garden of Forking Paths, which the Hoki Museum acquired: the piece offers a vivid testament to the artist’s consummate skill, making it easy to understand why his works are repeatedly invited for exhibition and collection by institutions in Taiwan and abroad.
As a portrait painter renowned for his meticulous realist style, Lo Chan Peng’s work is particularly striking for its detailed rendering of the human form. Veins and blood vessels beneath the skin seem to come alive on the canvas, while his nuanced treatment of light, shadow, and the textures of clothing is equally remarkable. Importantly, his art goes beyond mere photographic imitation of reality; Lo has developed a distinctive style and atmosphere uniquely his own. This strong personal voice has given his work remarkable recognizability and helped him stand out in exhibitions as a focal point of critical attention.
Lo Chan Peng’s art centers on portraiture in oil and ink, often exploring themes of time, history, life, and death. His highly detailed, figurative portraits—marked by signs of aging, decay, burning, and staining—offer viewers an intense visual experience that translates abstract ideas such as time and history into visible, tangible elements of his artistic language. His subject matter ranges from historical figures who changed the course of events to children whose destinies were forever altered by war.
Lo’s exhibitions are must-see events for his many followers. Following this landmark acquisition by one of Japan’s most representative museums, he will be featured at this year’s Art Taipei in October, where he will unveil a brand-new, never-before-shown work from 2022. Special artist-guided tours will be held on Thursday, October 20 at 4:30 PM and Sunday, October 23 at 2 PM. We warmly invite all who appreciate Lo Chan Peng’s work to join us in celebrating one of the year’s major events in Taiwan’s art scene.
—
2022 Art Taipei
Artist Tours
10/20 (Thu) 4:00 PM
10/23 (Sun) 2:00 PM
Lo Chan Peng – Short Biography
Born 1983, Taiwan
Primary media: Oil painting, ink painting, mixed media
Current Profession
Professional Artist
Solo Exhibitions
2020 Historic Movers & Shakers, and the Doomed – Lo Chan Peng Solo Exhibition, Daguan Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2017 Misty, Daguan Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2014 The Spiritual Portrait, AKI Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2013 The Edge of Darkness, AKI Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2009 Strawberry Generation Studio, AKI Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
Group Exhibitions
2022
Los Angeles Art Show, Arcadia Gallery, New York, USA
Of Mice and Men, Verduyn Gallery, Belgium
The Nude – Mysteries of the Human Body, Artglorieux Gallery (curated by Gallery Sumire), Tokyo, Japan
One World, Gallery Suchi, Tokyo, Japan
ART OSAKA 2022, Gallery Suchi, Tokyo, Japan
SPÄTSOMMER, Group Exhibition, GALERIE BENJAMIN ECK, Munich, Germany
Collections
Hoki Museum (ホキ美術館), Hoki, Japan
ESMoA Contemporary Art Museum, Los Angeles, USA
National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
Chimei Museum, Tainan, Taiwan
Union Bank of Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan
Awards
2020
ARC Purchase Award, Art Renewal Center, USA
Honorable Mention in Portrait Category, Art Renewal Center, USA
ARC People’s Choice Award, Art Renewal Center, USA
Selected Top 50, 22nd Annual International Portrait Competition, Portrait Society of America, USA
Official Website:
https://www.hoki-museum.jp
Introduction in Chinese:
http://www.tomicwu.com/2131533865-hoki-museum.html
Architect Profile:
https://kknews.cc/zh-tw/culture/4leay9v.html