Lee at work, 1981

People Series (1980s)

At the heart of Goam’s art, there are people: before his flight to Paris, people appeared in his realistic landscape paintings; in the 1960s’ abstract paintings, human figures were in a semi-abstract form; in the '70s, people were expressed like letters. His affection towards people remained constantly.
His People series started in the late 1970s and continued until his death. His early People works tended to be more geometrically simplified and decorative, and had developed from the schematic style of the late Abstract Letter work. On the other hand, later People works featured countless human figures rendered in his brush strokes as if Goam was writing letters on paper, covering its entire surface.
The salient feature of the People series is the repetition of a single brush stroke, which represents a man. The power of Goam’s unworldly brush strokes gives breath to the human figures. In this sense, his People series can be regarded as the climax of the art of Goam, in which his perspective on art and life are greatly reflected.