EYE BECOME THE BEHOLDER
YOWSHIEN KUO
LUCE GALLERY
Turin, from December 15, 2022, to January 20, 2023
Opening: Thursday, December 15, 6:30 pm. The artist will be present.
Online exhibition walkthrough video
Exhibition view, Eye Become the Beholder, Yowshien Kuo, 2022, Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Luce Gallery is pleased to present “Eye Become the Beholder”, the first solo show by Yowshien Kuo in Europe. The exhibition is on view in Turin from December 15, 2022, to January 20, 2023.
Kuo is a Saint Louis-based painter who incorporates Asian-American figures into surreal landscapes with American Western undertones that aim to communicate universal experiences through narrative and curated symbolism. His lauded technique of fine brushstrokes that resemble a smooth, matte air-brushed appearance, is contrasted with sandy surfaces of glittery lines and eye-catching reflective crystals. Each of Kuo’s paintings is layered with symbols that embrace multi-faceted interpretations from both Eastern and Western traditions, a practice that also reflects his personal experience as a Taiwanese American. When viewed together, these works invite viewers to witness the figure’s fantastical desires, while simultaneously encouraging deeper introspection about what differentiates our sense of “reality” from fantasy, or fact from fiction.
The exhibition’s title, Eye Become the Beholder, is a poetic rewrite where the word “I” is replaced by its (English) homophone word “eye”. In this context, the artist is emphasizing that individuals will become what they observe, and in this instance, the observations are our unavoidable social desires of love, acceptance, and belonging.
In this series, the Asiatic figures explode into the scenes surrounded by splashes of color, with abstract backgrounds embracing flannel patterns, star-filled galaxies, and monochromatic rainbows. Here, each work reads like an action film sequence, focusing on the satisfaction and immediacy of the film’s climax as the protagonist suddenly and boldly appears front and center. Each painting is an invitation down the rabbit hole to experience a version of reality that exists between the celestial and terrestrial realms, haloed by medieval mandolas. The strength of Kuo’s work is the seamless pairing of his meticulous painting skill with his mesmerizing commitment to symbolic and narrative details that confront preconceived notions of Asian Americans.
In Paper's Orgasmic Promise of Gold (When Icarus does not fall) (2022), a nude statuesque cowgirl hitches a ride atop a jet-fueled moped racing through a foreboding crimson landscape. She stands confident, unflinching, and gazing straight ahead, moving at a speed that has blown her red cowboy hat clear off her head. In the right hand, she commands a golden lasso over her head, while the left hand rests just at the pelvis with her arm’s coiling snake tattoo suggestively moving downward. She appears almost goddess-like in both her confidence and in her command over this modern chariot. In the distance, we see the silhouette of a city left far behind in the moped’s exhaust. Scattered in the foreground, we see torn aces and joker playing cards, perhaps inspiring the title’s reference to the allure of gambling. Other details, however, seem to point to the consequence of this vice with multiple references to death with gravestones, ritual incense, and flaming Joss paper or “afterlife money”. Have we been guided to the land of the dead at full speed, or are we simply offered a fleeting glimpse of this reality as a cautionary tale?
Exhibition view, Eye Become the Beholder, Yowshien Kuo, 2022, Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
The exhibition walkthrough video with the artist will be online at www.lucegallery.com/video.php.
Yowshien Kuo at his solo show “Eye Become the Beholder” at Luce Gallery, 2022, Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Yowshien Kuo (1985, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States) is a Saint Louis-based artist working primarily in painting. His work blends his personal experiences as a Taiwanese American with historical references and criticism to comment on social and racial inequality, cultural constructs, sexuality, and the human condition. Kuo graduated with an MFA in 2014 from Fontbonne University in Saint Louis. Most recently he was the recipient of the 10th Great Rivers Biennial Arts Award 2022, complete with the solo show entitled “Sufferingly Politely” at The Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis (until February, 2023). Kuo has exhibited throughout the United States and Europe.
Yowshien Kuo, Paper's Orgasmic Promise of Gold (When Icarus does not fall), 2022, acrylic, bone ash, chalk, and glitter on aluminum, 152.4 x 152.4 x 5.1 cm (60 x 60 x 2 in), Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Yowshien Kuo, Hear me, I Whispered, 2022, acrylic, bone ash, chalk, glitter, and plastic on aluminum, 132.1 x 132.1 x 5.1 cm (52 x 52 x 2 in), Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Yowshien Kuo, We've Left Nostalgia on a Plate of Dynamite on Olympus, 2022, acrylic, bone ash, chalk, glitter, and plastic on aluminum, 182.9 x 182.9 x 5.1 cm (72 x 72 x 2 in), Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Yowshien Kuo, La Passion de l'Orientale, 2022, acrylic, bone ash, chalk, glitter, and plastic on aluminum, 182.9 x 182.9 x 5.1 cm (72 x 72 x 2 in), Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Yowshien Kuo, Come in Over my Face, Wash Away the Shame, 2022, acrylic, bone ash, chalk, glitter, and plastic on aluminum, 152.4 x 152.4 x 5.1 cm (60 x 60 x 2 in), Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Yowshien Kuo, Adopting Milestones for Something Kind of Blue, 2022, acrylic, bone ash, chalk, synthetic fibers, and glitter on aluminum, 132.1 x 132.1 x 5.1 cm (52 x 52 x 2 in), Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Eye Become the Beholder - Yowshien Kuo
Luce Gallery
Turin, from December 15, 2022, to January 20, 2023
Opening: Thursday, December 15, 6:30 pm. The artist will be present.
Largo Montebello 40, Italy
Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 3:30 - 7:30 pm
Holidays closure: from December 31, 2022, to January 9, 2023
+39 011 18890206 / info@lucegallery.com
Instagram: lucegallery
Online videos featuring exhibition walkthroughs: www.lucegallery.com/video.php
Press Office: THE KNACK STUDIO / Tamara Lorenzi
tamara@theknackstudio.com / +39 347 0712934
info@theknackstudio.com / www.theknackstudio.com
EYE BECOME THE BEHOLDER
YOWSHIEN KUO
LUCE GALLERY
Turin, from December 15, 2022, to January 20, 2023
Opening: Thursday, December 15, 6:30 pm. The artist will be present.
Online exhibition walkthrough video
Exhibition view, Eye Become the Beholder, Yowshien Kuo, 2022, Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Luce Gallery is pleased to present “Eye Become the Beholder”, the first solo show by Yowshien Kuo in Europe. The exhibition is on view in Turin from December 15, 2022, to January 20, 2023.
Kuo is a Saint Louis-based painter who incorporates Asian-American figures into surreal landscapes with American Western undertones that aim to communicate universal experiences through narrative and curated symbolism. His lauded technique of fine brushstrokes that resemble a smooth, matte air-brushed appearance, is contrasted with sandy surfaces of glittery lines and eye-catching reflective crystals. Each of Kuo’s paintings is layered with symbols that embrace multi-faceted interpretations from both Eastern and Western traditions, a practice that also reflects his personal experience as a Taiwanese American. When viewed together, these works invite viewers to witness the figure’s fantastical desires, while simultaneously encouraging deeper introspection about what differentiates our sense of “reality” from fantasy, or fact from fiction.
The exhibition’s title, Eye Become the Beholder, is a poetic rewrite where the word “I” is replaced by its (English) homophone word “eye”. In this context, the artist is emphasizing that individuals will become what they observe, and in this instance, the observations are our unavoidable social desires of love, acceptance, and belonging.
In this series, the Asiatic figures explode into the scenes surrounded by splashes of color, with abstract backgrounds embracing flannel patterns, star-filled galaxies, and monochromatic rainbows. Here, each work reads like an action film sequence, focusing on the satisfaction and immediacy of the film’s climax as the protagonist suddenly and boldly appears front and center. Each painting is an invitation down the rabbit hole to experience a version of reality that exists between the celestial and terrestrial realms, haloed by medieval mandolas. The strength of Kuo’s work is the seamless pairing of his meticulous painting skill with his mesmerizing commitment to symbolic and narrative details that confront preconceived notions of Asian Americans.
In Paper's Orgasmic Promise of Gold (When Icarus does not fall) (2022), a nude statuesque cowgirl hitches a ride atop a jet-fueled moped racing through a foreboding crimson landscape. She stands confident, unflinching, and gazing straight ahead, moving at a speed that has blown her red cowboy hat clear off her head. In the right hand, she commands a golden lasso over her head, while the left hand rests just at the pelvis with her arm’s coiling snake tattoo suggestively moving downward. She appears almost goddess-like in both her confidence and in her command over this modern chariot. In the distance, we see the silhouette of a city left far behind in the moped’s exhaust. Scattered in the foreground, we see torn aces and joker playing cards, perhaps inspiring the title’s reference to the allure of gambling. Other details, however, seem to point to the consequence of this vice with multiple references to death with gravestones, ritual incense, and flaming Joss paper or “afterlife money”. Have we been guided to the land of the dead at full speed, or are we simply offered a fleeting glimpse of this reality as a cautionary tale?
Exhibition view, Eye Become the Beholder, Yowshien Kuo, 2022, Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
The exhibition walkthrough video with the artist will be online at www.lucegallery.com/video.php.
Yowshien Kuo at his solo show “Eye Become the Beholder” at Luce Gallery, 2022, Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Yowshien Kuo (1985, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States) is a Saint Louis-based artist working primarily in painting. His work blends his personal experiences as a Taiwanese American with historical references and criticism to comment on social and racial inequality, cultural constructs, sexuality, and the human condition. Kuo graduated with an MFA in 2014 from Fontbonne University in Saint Louis. Most recently he was the recipient of the 10th Great Rivers Biennial Arts Award 2022, complete with the solo show entitled “Sufferingly Politely” at The Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis (until February, 2023). Kuo has exhibited throughout the United States and Europe.
Yowshien Kuo, Paper's Orgasmic Promise of Gold (When Icarus does not fall), 2022, acrylic, bone ash, chalk, and glitter on aluminum, 152.4 x 152.4 x 5.1 cm (60 x 60 x 2 in), Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Yowshien Kuo, Hear me, I Whispered, 2022, acrylic, bone ash, chalk, glitter, and plastic on aluminum, 132.1 x 132.1 x 5.1 cm (52 x 52 x 2 in), Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Yowshien Kuo, We've Left Nostalgia on a Plate of Dynamite on Olympus, 2022, acrylic, bone ash, chalk, glitter, and plastic on aluminum, 182.9 x 182.9 x 5.1 cm (72 x 72 x 2 in), Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Yowshien Kuo, La Passion de l'Orientale, 2022, acrylic, bone ash, chalk, glitter, and plastic on aluminum, 182.9 x 182.9 x 5.1 cm (72 x 72 x 2 in), Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Yowshien Kuo, Come in Over my Face, Wash Away the Shame, 2022, acrylic, bone ash, chalk, glitter, and plastic on aluminum, 152.4 x 152.4 x 5.1 cm (60 x 60 x 2 in), Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Yowshien Kuo, Adopting Milestones for Something Kind of Blue, 2022, acrylic, bone ash, chalk, synthetic fibers, and glitter on aluminum, 132.1 x 132.1 x 5.1 cm (52 x 52 x 2 in), Photo PEPE fotografia, Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin
Eye Become the Beholder - Yowshien Kuo
Luce Gallery
Turin, from December 15, 2022, to January 20, 2023
Opening: Thursday, December 15, 6:30 pm. The artist will be present.
Largo Montebello 40, Italy
Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 3:30 - 7:30 pm
Holidays closure: from December 31, 2022, to January 9, 2023
+39 011 18890206 / info@lucegallery.com
Instagram: lucegallery
Online videos featuring exhibition walkthroughs: www.lucegallery.com/video.php
Press Office: THE KNACK STUDIO / Tamara Lorenzi
tamara@theknackstudio.com / +39 347 0712934
info@theknackstudio.com / www.theknackstudio.com
