Artist Biography
Michael Lin (b. 1964, Tokyo, Japan, based in Brussels, Belgium and Taipei, Taiwan) is most known for his large-scale murals and installations featuring bright floral patterns adapted from traditional Taiwanese textiles. Driven by an interest in painting not as an object but as a site to be inhabited and interacted with, Lin’s work envelops architectural surfaces, furniture and other everyday objects to challenge the viewer’s perception of the role of art in public spaces.
First conceived in the 1990s to create an immediate visual impact, Lin’s floral motifs are drawn from textile designs popularised in 1960s Taiwan. Often adorning domestic settings, they became a symbol of collective memory, cultural identity and personal history for the artist. He has used these patterns to transform museum interiors, bookstores, sports arenas, and community halls, among others, into environments for rest and social exchanges. Since the late 2000s, Lin has introduced a collaborative aspect into his practice by involving local artists and students in his process when exhibiting internationally.
Lin obtained his BFA from the Parsons School of Design, Los Angeles in 1990 and his MFA from the ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena in 1993. His work is held in major collections including M+ Museum, Hong Kong; Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai; Taipei Fine Arts Museum; 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa; Fukuoka Asian Art Museum; Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo; Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul; Museum of Contemporary Art and Design Manila; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; MoMA PS1, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto; Vancouver Art Gallery; and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
Notable solo exhibitions include Pentachrome (2022), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Archipelago (2020), Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto; Mariposa B1-09 (2020), Jumex Museum, Mexico City; Hau Tei Square (2019), Centre for Heritage Arts & Textile, Hong Kong; 24/7 (2019), Taipei Fine Arts Museum; Federation (2017), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Locomotion (2016), Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila. The artist has also participated in major international festivals including The Open World (2023), 3rd Thailand Biennale, Chiang Rai; Social Factory (2014), 10th Shanghai Biennial; Open House (2011), 3rd Singapore Biennale; The Spectacle of the Everyday (2009), 10th Lyon Biennale; Live and Let Live (2009), 4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale; Home (2008), 1st Taiwan Biennial, Taichung; P_A_U_S_E (2002), 4th Gwangju Biennale; APT4 (2002), 4th Asia Pacific Triennial, Brisbane; International 02 (2002), 2nd Liverpool Biennial; Plateau of Humankind (2001), 49th Venice Biennale; and Egofugal (2001), 7th Istanbul Biennial.
Lin had his residency at the STPI Workshop in 2006, resulting in Asia Society Portfolio (2006)—a set of ten prints by leading Asian artists to mark both a decade of the Asian Society’s exhibition and artist commission programme, and the fiftieth anniversary of the Society’s founding.