Taiwanese vanguards see society in different colors

Setting up social organizations has been a way for artists in oppressive political environments to encourage each other and buttress their common resistance to the stranglehold of the regime. During the martial law era, particularly in the early 1980s, more than 30 such art societies existed in Taiwan, the most famous one being the 101 Modern Arts Group. They organized exhibitions as a group and joined forces to criticize the oppressive social and political climate.

The lifting of martial law in 1987, however, deprived these societies of a common enemy and it wasn't long before most of them fell apart.

More than a decade later, these socially conscious artists who still have something to say about Taiwanese society gathered again to form the Handtoo Art Group (悍圖錄) in 1998. Among them are Wu Tian-chang (吳天章) and Yang Mao-lin (楊茂林), who represented Taiwan in the Venice Biennial in 1997 and 1999 respectively.

"Artistic Nomadism and Social Sentiments,"(藝術游牧與社會情愫) the group's current exhibition at the Main Trend Art Space (大趨勢藝術空間), showcases the latest developments in their artistic careers and offers keen perspectives on Taiwanese society.

"The younger generation of Taiwanese artists, who grew up in an affluent and democratic society and then studied art in Western countries, adopt a more lighthearted attitude to art. They are sometimes very bold and playful in their works. By contrast, the 40-something generation, who has been through the most turbulent years in Taiwan's social and political history, are more sensitive to social changes and show more affection for the country," Chen Jue-wen (陳瑞文), group member and the exhibition's curator, told the Taipei Times.

According to Chen, the works of Handtoo members still express the sense of mission and the ambition to change society after all the years of confrontation with the authorities have ended. "Apart from that, it's our mid-life crises that drew us together," he said. At a time when it's totally unfashionable, and certainly unprofitable, to be a full-time artist, Chen's eight mates have adhered to an artistic career. Their devotion shows through the 21 two-dimensional exhibits, which deal with present-day social issues in a sincere manner.

Yang Mao-lin has dealt with Taiwan's teenage pop culture for the past four years with his attention-grabbing multi-media works combining traditional Chinese prints, Japanese porn video stills, American cartoon and manga characters that rendered his last solo exhibition "Inviting the Immortals 2: Baby, you are amazing!" an R-rated show.

Completing his manga-characters series, Yang deals with teenage culture once again in God Loves You (神愛世人). The triptych replaces sacred Christian images and deities in Chinese New Year prints with famous manga characters. A manga fan and a graduate student at the tender age of 50, Yang observed on the college campus that "many teenagers love Japanese comic books. They often treat the comic characters like gods."

Words of pleasant greetings are written next to these deified robotmen and magical girls, giving them a down-to-earth human touch that is hard to find in religions' lofty gods. Many of the characters are far from omnipotent. Placing them at the center of biblical settings is as good as announcing the age of anti-heros, whose quirks and charisma, rather than sheer power, appeal to teenagers.