Help along the way
“As a little kid, I was inspired by a teacher who drew portraits.” “When I was in middle school, Xu Shangwu taught me to paint birds and flowers, and in high school I began to focus on calligraphy.” Facing the future, Lee laid his foundations step by step. “To pass the exam to enter the National Taiwan Academy of Arts, I studied drawing, watercolors, and traditional Chinese painting with Huang Guangnan.” At that time Huang suggested that Lee pursue sculpture. The orthodox education offered at the National Taiwan Academy of Arts made the school Lee’s sole preference, and sculpture became his lifetime vocation.
“A lot of people have helped me in my life.” His teacher Ren Zhaoming, who had studied in Spain, encouraged him to continue his education, and began teaching him Spanish from his freshman year. An older schoolmate, Ye Zhucheng, who was studying in Spain at the time, spared no effort to help Lee handle the application process and arrange his life there. “Without their kind help, I would never have been able to go abroad without a hitch.” It was in 1978 that Lee first started studying art overseas.
Coursework at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando was packed, but even after a whole day of classes Lee would still go to an off-campus drawing class to put in three or four more hours of work. “I was like a sponge, continually absorbing new things.” It was this type of diligent study that laid such a solid foundation for Lee’s future.
“At that time I most feared the holidays, because while my classmates would all go off to enjoy themselves, I would be working part time anywhere I could.” His parents had exhausted their resources to buy him a one-way ticket, and the rest was left entirely up to Lee’s own hard work.
The College of Arts at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid at that time had the best facilities and resources in Europe, and Lee earned his master’s degree from there. “Professor Francisco Toledo Sanchez laid a foundation in Western art for me. He was a teacher who not only imparted knowledge, but cultivated character too.”
Lee won worldwide approbation for his "Bullfighting" series, exhibited at the 2017 Venice Biennale.