Untitled
Project Description
Untitled is one of two site-specific works by Michael Lin (b. 1964, Tokyo), an artist living and working in Taipei and Brussels. Since the late 1990s, Lin has gained recognition for his expansive floral motifs inspired by Taiwanese domestic textiles, particularly the embroidered patterns found on traditional pillows. Informed by his return to Taiwan after many years abroad, these motifs reflect the shifting domestic and political contexts he encountered, engaging questions of cultural identity, belonging and collective memory. Although repetitive and seemingly simple, Lin’s floral compositions are deeply rooted in Taiwanese visual traditions and carry significant cultural and political resonance.
Drawing on the relationship between painting and architecture, Lin creates monumental installations that transform public and institutional spaces. By integrating floral patterns into the built environment, he challenges conventional perceptions of painting and museum architecture, inviting visitors to move through and interact with the work. For Lin, painting extends beyond the canvas to become an environment shaped by movement, use and social interaction. His large-scale installations blur the boundaries between art and everyday life, transforming familiar spaces through repetition, colour and pattern.
By incorporating motifs associated with domestic interiors into public settings, Lin also unsettles distinctions between private and public, decorative and monumental, encouraging viewers to reconsider how cultural identity is expressed and experienced through the spaces they inhabit. His immersive works ultimately reimagine the museum as a site of encounter, exchange and collective experience.
Bio
Michael Lin (b. 1964, Tokyo) is a Taiwanese artist based in Taipei and Brussels, known for monumental painting installations that transform architectural and public spaces.
Lin has exhibited internationally at major museums and biennials, including the Venice and Istanbul Biennales (2001), the Lyon Biennale (2005, 2009), the Singapore Biennale (2011), and the Auckland Triennial (2013). Notable solo exhibitions include A Modest Veil at Vancouver Art Gallery (2010), Model Home at Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2012), Federation at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2017), 24/7 at Taipei Fine Arts Museum (2019), Archipelagoat the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (2020), Mariposa B1-09 at Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2020), and Pentachrome at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2022).
Project Details
Year: 2010
Artist: Michael Lin
Commissioned by: Beppu Project NPO
Festival: Beppu Contemporary Art Festival: Mixed Bathing World Triennale
Producer: Junya Yamaide
Director: Serizawa Takashi
Assistant Director: Keith Whittle
Venue: Site-specific locations
Country: Japan