Since presenting Desolate Landscapes in 1999, Wu has consistently focused on remote, uninhabited, and desolate natural scenes. Through series such as Endless Barren Rocks, Floating Islands, and Elegy of the Apocalypse, he has pursued a sustained exploration of existential meaning and spiritual origins. His works are often devoid of human figures; sparse trees and exposed ridgelines shrouded in dense moisture replace the leisurely imagination of classical landscape painting, transforming it into a solitary and introspective realm. For Wu, brush and ink are not constraints, nor is tradition a dogma, but rather vessels that carry individual spirit and lived experience. These seemingly barren landscapes, far from empty, harbor a transcendent vitality and stillness—spaces in which the artist continues an ongoing dialogue with the self, with history, and with the present age.
Introduction to Wu Chi Tao
Wu Chi-Tao (b. 1968, Tainan) graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at Taipei National University of the Arts and earned a master’s degree from the Graduate Institute of Fine Arts at Tunghai University. He has long been engaged in calligraphy and ink painting, as well as curatorial practice, art criticism, and academic research. He is the recipient of the 34th Wu San-Lian Award (Ink Painting category) and currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Fine Arts at Taipei National University of the Arts. Deeply grounded in academic training and humanistic inquiry, his practice regards painting as a means of cultivating inner spiritual balance rather than merely refining technique. During his formative years, the influence of mentors Li Yi-Hung and Ni Tsai-Chin guided his brush-and-ink language beyond the formal constraints of traditional ink painting toward a response to contemporary spiritual and cultural conditions.
1968 Born in Tainan, Taiwan
Education & Professional Experience
2012– Associate Professor, Department of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts
2007– Assistant Professor / Associate Professor (Full-time and Adjunct), Department of Fine Arts, Tunghai University
2006 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Fine Arts, Tunghai University; Graduate Institute of Art History, Tainan National University of the Arts; Department of Chinese Literature, Providence University
2004–2006 Adjunct Lecturer, Graduate Institute of Art History, Tainan National University of the Arts
2000 Lecturer, Joint Credit Program by Tunghai University and National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts
1998–2006 Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Fine Arts, Tunghai University; Department of Chinese Literature, Providence University
1998 M.F.A., Graduate Institute of Fine Arts, Tunghai University
1993 B.F.A., Department of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts
Solo Exhibitions
