As technology continues to advance at a lightning speed, people’s lifestyle and way of thinking are consistently shifting; to be within the progressively complex space and time, the perception of art and culture is faced with an ultimate transformation. Following the topic The Great Acceleration proposed by Taipei Biennale this year, Asia Art Center, situated in the heart of the main exhibition section (A14), not only persists to broaden the concept of “The Spirit of the East”, but also reflects upon the networks of art and contemporary society, utilizing the essence of Chinese culture to illustrate the multifaceted concerns unique to our current world.
Xu Bing has long observed the linguistic and intellectual patterns of people; tradition and culture are dissected and reassembled, as seen from the new English calligraphy engraved onCobbled Path and installation work Background Story. Xu is presenting us with a new way of looking and perspective, thereby initiating space for intellectual movement. Distinctly different from Li Chen’s familiar elegant bronze sculptures, he deliberately creates rough and cracking surface texture to depict every type of characters of the ordinary folks, in order to imply conflicts as a result of innate greed, stripping people’s masks to reveal their human nature. Li’s latest work epitomizes the collective spiritual state of this era.
Liu Dan’s 5-meter long large scale artwork Mountain Wu has No Equal will also be exhibited alongside two of Yang’s latest acrylic works. Viewers will be able to relish in abstract and realism, prospect and subtlety; the intriguing aspects further enhances the notion of “purity” in artists’ mindsets through the various tribulations in life.
Wang Tiande’s Mountain Behind (Houshan) series replaces traditional calligraphic strokes with flames, the hollowed out landscape or calligraphic work masks the monotype prints of ancient steel plates underneath, establishing an atmosphere where contemporary art meets the past. Zhang Huan collects the ashes from burned incense to create “ash paintings.” Through this unique method, Zhang is exploring the spirit of our collective culture, echoing the significance of the medium in our everyday life.
In addition, Gao Xingjian’s sentiments, Chuang Che’s landscapes, Pan Hsinhua’s foreign lands, and Dong Shawhwei’s still life can all be attributed to the process of artists’ desire to seek a moment to pause and to expand in this ever-changing world.
Asia Art Center is determined to support Taiwan’s younger generation of artists, thus will be partnering up for the first time with Yeh Renkun, a brilliant young artist featured in the Made in Taiwan- Young Artist Discovery section. As the first prize winner of the Emerging Artist award at the Taipei Contemporary Ink Painting Biennale in 2010, Yeh’s meticulous touch and insights capture the slow and quiet, gradually forgotten corners in our city. Yeh further states that “…while depicting the seemingly frigid architecture, the subtle temperature left on the surface with the passage of time is illustrated as well; mirroring the fragmented images collected through memory, the memory and connections of past events are pursued through the various imagined architecture and stages.” 12 of the artist’s works will be exhibited at booth Y05.
