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Enigmatic painter keeps on rising like a phoenix

By Diana Freundl
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Aug 22, 2004, Page 19

A-Sun Wu works on one of this more recent sculptures, which combines car parts and a mold made from a crocodile skull. PHOTO COURTESY OF ARTIST

Right before A Sun-Wu (吳炫三) set fire to more than 20 of his paintings at the opening of his solo exhibition at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall last week, a person in the crowd asked him, "Why burn them, why not just keep them in storage."

It was a valid question to which Wu somewhat enigmatically replied, "This is not my art."

A few days ago over dinner, Wu, who is one of the country's foremost artists, explained his actions in more detail.

"There will always be some things you do when you are younger that you feel are not true representations of your work, and for me, those paintings were not finished."

The pieces had been completed when Wu was an art student. Nearly 30 years later, before undergoing major surgery last year, Wu said he promised himself that if he survived the operation he would "clean up his collection" and do away with earlier works he wasn't satisfied with.

A collection of paintings and sculptures that Wu is pleased with are currently part of a solo exhibition at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Moving through the gallery, visitors can witness a change in the artist's style, from landscape paintings in the 1960s to his more recent self-labeled "primitive paintings."

It was 10 years of traveling in Africa, Central America, and the South Pacific, that affected his art and attitude the most Wu said.

"Before I went to Africa, I always painted landscapes and I felt bound by painting principles and rules. After I came back form Africa, I didn't care about principles and rules in painting. I stopped painting landscapes and started to paint what I felt inside me."

Wu never had difficulty selling his landscape paintings, but his travel-inspired work was not so well-received at first, he said. But, after a few shows in France and the US, he started getting rave reviews in Europe and Wu's post-travel paintings began to sell in Asia. Now his paintings and sculptures can be seen in galleries and museums around the world.

Walking through the gallery, it's possible to witness a change in Wu's style and technique. During the 1980s he used a lot of bright color and more human-like forms in paintings such as Bone (1981) and African Shep-herd (1984). Then in the mid-to-late 1990s, Wu said he wanted to "go back to the basics."

So, he began using only red, white and black. Around the same time, he started to combine elements of Taoism together with his travel experiences. The result was abstract portrait painting of indigenous peoples using soft, feminine curved lines (yin) and sharp, masculine straight lines (yang), Wu said.

His most recent works contrast tradition with modernity by creating sculptures out of used car parts and animal bones. In addition to mixing Chinese philosophy and religion with his traveling experiences, Wu said nature has always had a great impact on his work. "Nature is my best teacher."

Wu illustrated his statement with an example of his work, The Story of the Bunun Tribe, which uses acrylic on wood.

Asked whether he had been accused of misappropriation of indigenous peoples in his work, Wu said he was once charged with making fun of African people in his paintings.

"Although I am not an Aboriginal, I have always respected and been inspired by the Aboriginals' way of life in Taiwan and wherever I travel," Wu said.

Exhibition notes:
What: Disturbance of the Wild: A-Sun Wu's Solo Exhibition
Where: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國父紀念館) Chungshan National Gallery at 505, Renai Rd, Sec 4, Taipei (仁愛路4段505號)
Telephone: (02) 2758 8008
When: Until Sept. 1, daily from 9am to 5pm.
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