誠品畫廊將於二〇二〇年一月四日至二月九日舉辦司徒強個展。已逝的司徒強為寫實派藝術大師，誠品畫廊從一九八九年創辦起與他合作至他二〇一一年過世，在這期間總共為他辦過六次展覽。作為司徒強長年來的合作夥伴與親密朋友，誠品畫廊此次展覽將以回顧展的形式，重溫司徒強從一九七八年至二〇〇九年所創作的作品。

司徒強一九四八年生於中國廣東省開平縣，兩歲時隨著家人遷居香港。初中時跟隨當代「嶺南四家」之一的楊善深習畫；高中則在中文大學選修呂壽琨的課。一九六九年至一九七三年來到台灣師大美術系就讀，期間同黃君璧、林玉山等人學習，並在國畫中有絕佳的表現。

一九七三年他來到紐約普拉特藝術與設計學院，想繼續發展東方水墨抽象畫。然而這些作品亦中亦西也可說是不中不西，造成創作上難以突破的瓶頸。直到一晚他偶然注意到學校畫室的隔板上，以前學生留下的顏料污跡，像是發現天機一般，從此開啟嶄新的藝術方向。他模仿牆上斑駁的污跡，並精工描繪預先攝製的國畫照片，藉由超寫實技法和普普觀念完成了一系列作品。偶後他對「寫實」要求越來越高，不僅要形似而且要質似，希望超越當代的新寫實和照相寫實的框架。在一九七九年畢業之前，他已躋身在幻象畫派（trompe l'oeil）的行列，奠定了往後的成就。

八○年代是司徒強創造力迸發的全盛時期。他不斷嘗試變化繪畫中的背景，相機也成為創作中不可或缺的一個工具。他習慣把實物做成與成品大小相同的模型，以相機拍照，再以照片、模型相互比對，透過畫筆、噴槍在畫布上慢慢創作。筆記紙、膠帶、圖釘、枯葉、羽毛、信封、彩帶、鎖匙、帳單、繩子、玫瑰等等日常生活常見的物品，全成為供他發揮的題材。

進入九〇年代，玫瑰反覆出現在作品之中的頻率提高，成為司徒強最重要的代表符號。他說：「玫瑰之於我，有一種非常特殊的浪漫氣氛，尤其是殘凋的玫瑰，充滿著頹廢的美學。每一次凋殘之後，都是生命的再一次開端，頹廢不正是黎明之前的極黑，那麼擁抱頹廢也可以說是一種樂觀。」由於偏愛玫瑰，人稱「阿強」的司徒強亦得到「司徒玫瑰」的美名。

邁入二十一世紀，司徒強以黑洞、銀河、星雲、光、舍利、蝶、追憶等為繪畫主題，畫面背景成為重要的敘事舞台。「我的畫作是一封封寄不出去的情書」，司徒強在愛情和生活中的挫敗，激發了他對想像世界的不捨與追尋，甚至化焦慮、不安為創作能量，試圖昇華至近乎宗教式的信念。藝評人高千惠形容他的作品為「穹界之花」，這詞也成為司徒強在這時期創作的代名詞，同時象徵著藝術家本人的生命狀態。二○一一年九月五日凌晨四點三十分，司徒強因冠狀動脈心臟病於美國紐約醫院於睡夢中辭世，得年六十三歲。

「死亡是任何有情生命的必然輪迴，繁花殞落，繽紛又淒哀，臨終繾綣回首，以豔無盡悲哀，尤有熾烈執著的熱情。」這是司徒強在生前最後一次個展中的自述。司徒強在四十多年的藝術歷程經過了天翻地覆的演化，他的作品由簡單到複雜，由複雜到精煉，但始終不變的，是他浪漫的個性與對藝術的追求，藉由遺留下來的一百多件作品繾綣情深地道出。

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ESLITE GALLERY is pleased to present a “SZETO Keung” solo exhibition from January 4 to February 9, 2020. ESLITE had collaborated with the late artist from 1989 up until 2011 when he passed away. As his long-time collaborator and friend, ESLITE will present his works made between 1978 to 2009 to give an overview of the realist master’s outstanding, albeit short, artistic career.

Born in Kaiping County, Guangdong Province, China, in 1948, Szeto Keung immigrated to Hong Kong with his family at the age of two. He began learning painting from masters such as Yang Shan-shen and Lui Shou-kwan as a teenager, and showed immense talent in ink painting while studying at the Art Department of National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan, where he graduated in 1973.

He went on to study at Pratt Institute in New York, the city that became his home ever since. It was there where he began painting in a photo-realist style derived from the objectivity and mass consumerism he saw in Pop Art, and transformed this into his own extremely personal and emotional painting language using trompe l’oeil realism. The 1980s saw a leap in his artistic development. He experimented with different textures as background for his paintings, as well as began using camera as an important aid. Notes, tapes, thumbtacks, shriveled leaves, feathers, envelopes, keys, bills, ropes and roses… objects of daily life found their way into his images as motifs. In particular rose became a consistent subject and important metaphor for him in the 1990s, symbolizing the unreachable, unfulfilled goals of life, as well as homeland, love, youth, and ideal.

In the 2000s, Szeto’s meticulous depictions of roses floating in vast and desolate dreamlands were given titles such as Recollection, Milky Way, Nebula, Relic and Black Hole, suggesting feelings of anxiety, desire, and scarring. “Every rose is a love letter that cannot be delivered in life,” said the artist. This sense of defeat and frustration was turned into a pursuit of an imaginary world where longing, anxiety, and discontent could transcend into a new faith.

“Death is a cycle inevitable for any sentient life. Flowers will blossom then fade, bloom with vibrant color then droop with desolate sadness. It is hard to let go right before death, when one reflects on one’s life with sorrow at memorable moments. If one is of a more passionate nature, he will feel deeper grief towards the flower’s demise.” This was part of his statement in his last exhibition in 2009. At 4:30am, September 5, 2011, Szeto passed away in his sleep at a hospital in New York at the age of 63. Over four decades, Szeto Keung underwent dramatic changes in his art, going from simple to complex, then complex to refined. Many painters have tried to capture the wisdom of Eastern philosophy in Western oil paintings, but perhaps SZETO was the only one who successfully conveyed both emotional impact and visualization of Chinese literary concept, marking him one of the most revered overseas Chinese artists of his time.