Ed Pien
Taiwanese Canadian artist Ed Pien (1958) expresses deep human fears in his work. Grotesque creatures are cropping up in his drawings; demons, spirits and ghosts. Thus he continues an age-old tradition in Western and Asian art, the representation of hell.
During a journey through China he discovered the cut-out drawing, especially used in clichéd images for tourists there. Pien took over this technique in order to create utterly delicate and complex representations of trees and woods, in which human figures are concealed. These cutout drawings are not only placed on the wall, like classical drawings, but are also used to build large installations that the audience can walk through.
The installations also bring forth video works like Shadow Play, in which Ed Pien himself moves through an installation with cut-out paper and networks of ropes that continue to be transformed by means of dynamic, dramatic lighting.
Very recently he started experimenting with aluminium in which cutouts are made by using a powerful water jet. In these aluminium works, he plays with the scale of the people, nature and architecture he portrays. The aluminium cut outs are placed slightly off the wall so the light can cast shadows behind the cut out forms.
1958 | born in Taipei, Taiwan |
education |
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1982 | Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada |
1984 | Master of Fine Arts, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada |
lives and works in Toronto, Canada | |
solo exhibitions |
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2013 | North-South Encounter, Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montreal, Canada |
2012 | VOLTA New York, Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain |
2011 | Déliaison/Unbinding, Le Musée d’art contemporarain des Laurentides, Québec, CanadaMémento, Storey Gallery, Lancaster, the U.K.Haven of Delight, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, Canada |
2010 | Haven of Delight, (touring) Museum London, London, Ontario, CanadaThe Room, St Johns, Newfoundland, CanadaGalerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, The Netherlands
The Drawings of Ed Pien: The Haunting, Campus Gallery, Georgian College, Barrie (Ontario, Canada). Underwater (curated by Angela Kingston). Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, UK Memento, Himalaya Art Gallery, 501 Contemporary, Chongqing, China |
2009 | Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montreal, CanadaNational touring exhibition of HAVENGaleria Nina Menocal Project Space, Mexico City
The Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester, UK (touring through the UK, China and Canada) The Tree Museum, Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada |
2008 | Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, The NetherlandsBirch Libralato, Toronto, CanadaUniversity of Palermo, Petralia ,Sottana, Sicily, Italy
Axe-néo-sept, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada Museé d’art de Joliette, Joliette, Quebec, Canada Hot Art, Basel, Switzerland |
2007 | Cornice Art Fair, Venice, ItalyBellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, Washington, USACanada House, London, UK
Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Vancouver, B.C., Canada |
2006 | SPACE Gallery, London, UKGalerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, The NetherlandsBizart, Shanghai, China
Rodman Hall Art Gallery, St Catharines, ON, Canada Centre d’art de Basse-Normandie, France |
2005 | New Works, The Robert Birch Gallery, Toronto, ON, CanadaIn the Realm of Others, Cambridge Galleries, Cambridge, ON, CanadaEd Pien, Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montréal, QC, Canada
Tracing Night, Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey, Mexico Earthly Delights, Windsor Printmaker’s Forum, Windsor, ON, Canada In a Realm of Others, The Robert McLaughlin Art Centre, Oshawa, ON, Canada Strange Scene, Keyano College Art Gallery, Ft. McMurray, Canada |
2004 | Earthly Delights, Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico CityEarthly Delights, Museo Ex-Convento del Carmen, Guadalajara, MexicoGalerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, The Netherlands
Imaginary Beings, Galerie Alexander Ochs, Berlin Earthly Delights, Museo Arqueologico, Mazatlan, Mexico Celestial Bodies, Agnes Etherington Art Gallery, Kingston, ON, Canada Tracing Night, Sir Wilfred Grenfell Gallery, Corner Brook, NF, Canada Tracing Night, St. Mary’s University Gallery, Halifax, NS, Canada Ed Pien, Usine C, Montréal, QC, Canada |
2003 | In a Realm of Others, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, AB, Canada |
2002 | Ed Pien: Survey, Middlesbrough Art Gallery, Middlesbrough, UK |
2001 | The Canadian Culture Centre, Paris, FranceMuseum of Contemporary Canadian Art, TorontoRobert Birch Gallery, Toronto, Canada
WALLY, Amsterdam Miller/Block, Boston, USA Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Canada Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, Canada Truck, Calgary, Canada |
2000 | De Overslag, EindhovenContemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, CanadaL’oeil de Poisson, Quebec, Canada
Gallery 101, Ottawa, Canada L’Expression, Saint-Hyacinthe, Canada |
1998 | Oboro, Montreal, CanadaThe Charles H. Scott Gallery, Vancouver, Canada |
1997 | Artcite, Windsor, Canada |
1996 | YYZ, Toronto, CanadaLangage Plus, Alma, Quebec, Canada |
1995 | Struts Gallery, Sackville, CanadaAccess Gallery, Vancouver, Canada |
1994 | Red Head Gallery, Toronto, Canada |
1991 | Main/Access Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada |
1989 | Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, Toronto, Canada |
1987 | Galerie Noctuelle, Montreal, CanadaAce Art, Winnipeg, Canada |
1986 | Articule, Montreal, Canada |
1983 | Gallery 76, Toronto, Canada |
group exhibitions |
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2014 | Duo exhibition with Karin van Dam, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NLAmsterdam Drawing, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Amsterdam, NLPapier 2014, Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montreal, Canada |
2013 | Suspended Gravity (with Karin van Dam), OV Gallery, Shanghai, ChinaPapier 2013, Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montreal, Canada |
2012 | SCOPE Miami, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Miami, Florida USAToronto International Art Fair,Galerie Pierre Francois Ouelette, Toronto, Ca.Contemporary Istanbul 2012,
Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Istanbul, TurkeySCOPE Basel, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Basel, SwitzerlandLiving – Being , Song Zhuang Art Center, Beijing, China18th Bieniale of Sydney, Australia Dimensions in Paper, University Hospital Leiden, The Netherlands |
2011 | TWENTY, 20 years Galerie Maurits vd Laar, The Hague, The NetherlandsRefiguring Nature, Creative Space M50, Shanghai, ChinaBande, La Biennial du Lin, Portneuf, Quebec, Canada
Paper Doll, Owens Art Gallery, NB, Curator, Canada Selected works, Gallery Stratford, ON, Canada Recent works, Art Amsterdam, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Netherlands Recent works, Papier 11 Montreal, Birch Libralato, Toronto Bleed Drawings, Papier 11 Montreal, Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, Underwater, The Bluecoat, curator: Angela Kingston, Liverpool, U.K. Art Rotterdam, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Underwater, Tullie House, Carlisle, U.K. Shadow Play (DVD screening), The Victoria and Albert Museum, London. U.K |
2010 | Scream, Justina M. Barnike Gallery, Toronto, CanadaIt is what it is, National Art Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
2009 | Museum of Arts & Design, New York, USASalon Du Dessin Contemporain, Paris, FranceGaleria Toni Tàpies, Barcelona, Spain
Fruehsorge Contemporary Drawings, Berlin, Germany Ground, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Underwater, Towner Gallery, Eastbourne, touring the UK Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, B.C., Canada |
2008 | Contemporary Istanbul, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Istanbul, Turkey The National Art Gallery, Enchanted Domain, Ottawa, CanadaCollyer Bristow Gallery, Contemporary Chinoiserie, LondonPulse Miami, Birch Libralato,
CODA Museum, Paper Biennial, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada Walter Philips Art Gallery, Bureau de Change, Banff, Canada Art Sutton, Solace, Quebec (2-person), Canada Edward Day Gallery, Toronto, Canada |
2007 | Art Chicago, Chicago, USAWeatherspoon Art Museum, North Carolina, USAK. E. Nash University Art Gallery, Minneapolis Minnesota, USA
Begona Melone Gallery, Madrid, Spain Galerie Alexander Ochs, Berlin, Germany University of Waterloo Art Gallery, Waterloo, Canada, Art Rotterdam, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Rotterdam, The Netherlands |
2006 | e-Billboard Project, Toronto, CanadaThames Art Gallery, St Thomas, CanadaHart House, site-specific intervention, Toronto, Canada
Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Canada The Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Canada |
2005 | Drops, Room, RotterdamKunstRAI, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, AmsterdamSelected Drawings, Chicago Art Fair, USA |
2004 | The Garden, Pinacoteca, Provinciale di Potenza, ItalyMoon Beings, Straal, Cinema de Balie, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsEarthly Delights, Musée des Beaux Arts, Montréal, QC, Canada
Imaginary Beings, Siemens Forum Bayern, Münich, Germany Important Canadian Art, Zierhersmith, New York, USA Just My Imagination, Art Lab & Museum London, London, ON, Canada Normal, Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, Canada Octo-boy, Maison de la culture Plateau Mont-Royal, Montréal, QC, Canada |
2003 | Selected Works, Goethe Institut, Berlin, GermanyWater Gods Playing Tricks, Berlin Art Forum, Berlin, GermanyDrawings, Frankfurt Art Fair, Frankfurt, Germany
The Rest of the World, Neuffer Am Park, Pirmasens, Germany Between Line and From, Art Gallery of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada The Last Judgement Project, Seattle Centre, curator Stefano Catalani, Seattle, USA Metamorphosis, Maison de la culture Cote-des-Neiges, Montréal, QC, Canada Liminal, Ryerson Art Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada Imaginings, Mississauga Art Gallery, Mississauga, ON, Canada Delight, Weewerk, Toronto, ON, Canada Visions and Apparitions, Hart House, U of T, Toronto, ON, Canada |
2002 | The Fountain, Parkhaus, Berlin, GermanyManifestation, Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montréal, QC, CanadaThe Garden, Parc Citroën, curator Pernille Grane, Paris, France
Earthly Delights, The Montreal Biennial 2002, Montréal, QC, Canada Tekeningen, Quartair, The Hague, The Netherlands Liminal, Bishop’s University Art Gallery, Lennoxville, Canada Play Tonic, ASpace, Toronto, ON, Canada Grief Mopping, Neutral Ground, Regina, SK Galerie Maurits van de Laar (with Karin van Dam), The Hague, The Netherlands Paper Art, Stormarn Kulturstiftung, Bad Oldesloe, Germany Liminal, M.A.I., Montréal, QC, Canada |
2001 | Asian American Arts Centre, New York, USAMuseo de Arte y Diseno Contemporaneo, Costa RicaW139, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Open Space, Victoria (3 person), Canada |
2000 | The Drawing Centre, New York, USALa Biennale de Montreal 2000, Montreal, CanadaGalerie Maurits van de Laar (with Dieter Mammel), The Hague, The Netherlands
Trans Hudson Gallery, New York, USA The Red Head Gallery, Toronto, Canada Reactor Gallery, Toronto, Canada |
1999 | W139, Amsterdam (3 person), The NetherlandsARTIS, Den Bosch (3 person), The NetherlandsPaul Petro Art, Toronto, Canada
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada Glendon Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada |
1997 | The New Paradise, Taipei (2 person), Taiwan |
1996 | Artspace, New Haven, CT, Canada |
1995 | Presentation House, Vancouver, CanadaOO Gallery, Halifax, Canada |
1994 | Artspeak Gallery, Vancouver, Canada |
1993 | The Alternator Gallery, (3 person), Kelowna , Canada |
1992 | The Red Head Gallery, (2 person), Toronto, Canada |
1991 | The Hamilton Art Gallery, Hamilton, CanadaThe Red Head Gallery, Toronto, Canada |
1990 | Agnes Etherington Gallery, Kingston, CanadaArtspace,(3 person), Peterborough, Canada |
1988 | Embassy Cultural House, London, Canada |
1987 | Oakville Galleries, (3 person), Oakville, Canada |
1985 | Mercer Union, Toronto, CanadaArt Gallery of York University, Toronto, Canada |
1984 | Galerie UQAM, Montreal, Canada |
1981 | Trajectory Gallery, London, Canada |