A modern artist born in Shanghai who put down roots in Macau and is regarded as a pioneer of Macau modern art. After moving to Macau in 1982 he developed "Neo-Orientalism", fusing Eastern tradition with Western contemporary techniques, and in 2015 was chosen by the Macao Museum of Art to represent Macau at the 56th Venice Biennale.
A Shanghai painter "burned" by modern art in a turbulent age turned a lifetime of searching, in the small city of Macau, into "Neo-Orientalism".
Mio Pang Fei was a modern artist born in Shanghai who put down roots in Macau and is regarded as a pioneer of Macau modern art. His "Neo-Orientalism" became an important strand of the city's contemporary art.
Profile
- Chinese Name: 繆鵬飛
- English Name: Mio Pang Fei
- Born: 1936 (Shanghai)
- Died: 2020 (Macau)
- Domains: Culture · Visual art
- Subject type: Painter · Artist
Background
Mio Pang Fei was born in Shanghai in 1936 and graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Fujian Normal College. Drawn to Western modern painting from the 1960s–70s, he was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. In 1982 he moved to Macau, where he would spend his entire mature career — nearly four decades — in the small city.
Career
I. Neo-Orientalism
In Macau, Mio gradually developed "Neo-Orientalism", arguing for reinterpreting Eastern tradition through Western contemporary concepts and media — fusing the spirit of ink and calligraphy with abstraction and installation. The theory crystallised in Macau by the mid-1990s and proved influential.
II. Teaching and the Venice Biennale
He taught at the Macao Polytechnic, nurturing local visual artists, and exhibited widely across China and abroad. In 2015 he was unanimously chosen by the Macao Museum of Art to represent Macau in a collateral event at the 56th Venice Biennale, showing his signature work under the title "Path: Adventure of an Artist".
Defining Moment
Bringing Macau to Venice
The 2015 Venice Biennale was the peak of Mio's career and an important step in Macau's contemporary art reaching the world. For a small city better known for gaming, a painter rooted in Macau for nearly forty years standing on the global art stage was itself a kind of cultural statement.
Key Achievements
- A pioneer of Macau modern art; founder of "Neo-Orientalism"
- Represented Macau at the 56th Venice Biennale (2015)
- Taught at the Macao Polytechnic, nurturing local visual artists