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Finding comfort in the unlikeliest places

By Vico Lee
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Aug 31, 2003, Page 19

Come and Go Series -- Boudoir, (來去系列-閨房) Pan Li-hong's (潘麗紅) current solo exhibition at Taipei Fine Arts Museum (台北市立美術館), originated from a Buddhist tale.

An old Buddhist monk is about to die. His disciples surround him, waiting for his final guidance on life. "People come and people go. Nothing happens in between," with these last words, the master attained nirvana. Pan recounted the story at the opening of the exhibition to calming Chinese flute music. "Why hurry yourself and be so busy when such is life?" Pan asked.

The exhibition is the second of Pan's Come and Go series, which started last year with a smaller-scale installation in the private gallery. Her trademark cool-headed artistic expression and an implicit criticism of persistent social values, which won her both popularity and critical acclaim in the 1980s, have been replaced by a more ambiguous approach to her subject matter, which is now more universal.

Making "oriental installations," as Pan called her works, seems a far departure from the realistic oil paintings for which she's been better known for over 20 years.

Drapes of white silk create a maze at Pan Li-hong's Come and Go Seriesv - Boudoir exhibition held at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taipei. PHOTO: VICO LEE, TAIPEI TIMES

Her photograph-like painting put indirect ways of personal communication in Chinese society under the microscope. However, installation is her means of reflecting on Asian values and sensitivities in a subtler way.

By hanging up white silk drapes and placing bamboo seats all over the gallery, Pan is trying to invite viewers to slow their hurried pace and immerse themelves in a relaxed atmosphere.

"In the process of modernization, people in Taiwan, and all parts of Asia, have forgotten the traditional, easy and quiet way to deal with things. The Western esthetic of fast and straightforward expression is everywhere in the art world today. I would like to remind people of this neglected culture," Pan said.

The soft, humble and opaqueness of white silk represents for Pan the oriental way of life, in which people would rather leave some things unsaid than actively put forth their opinions. Symbols of anicient Asia and Buddhism have been stamped meticulously on parts of the silk drapes to form maze shapes. Walking among the drapes is like walking in a maze.

Despite Pan's efforts to bring back a lost era of easy living with layer after layer of silk, the TFAM gallery, with its waxed black and white marble floor and excessive size, detracts from the atmosphere Pan is trying to create. The installation is much better suited to an alternative space or a more secluded private gallery. As the work now stands, it's probably not as comforting or relaxing as your favorite spa resort.

Come and Go Series -- Boudoir, Pan Li-hong solo exhibition, will run till Oct 19 at Taipei Fine Arts Museum.
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