Huang Yung-fu, an 86-year-old veteran from Taichung City, has made his military dependents’ village famous by painting on walls that could soon be pulled down when the neighborhood is redeveloped. Information about his paintings went viral, to the point where tourists have flown in from Malaysia, Japan, and Korea to see them. The borough chief of the neighborhood is fighting to conserve the paintings after coming under pressure from residents.
Huang has a simple painting style and uses bright colors. The characters he creates are well-known and friendly and it is said that his style is close to that of Hung Tung, another self-taught painter.
One lane, stretching about 40m to 50m, is adorned with paintings of famous TV personalities, plants, animals and other items such as birds, buffaloes, aircrafts and aboriginal people, in an area that has become known as the “painted military dependents’ village.” Stepping into the lane is like stepping into a surreal cartoon world.
The man behind all these paintings is Huang Yung-fu, who first picked up a paintbrush about two years ago. He started to paint for his own pleasure, but then developed his own style. Students of a university not far from the “painted military dependents’ village” seem to be among the first who discovered this old man’s talent and started to spread the news. Some even took pictures of the paintings and published them online. The paintings became so popular that now even newlyweds come here to take wedding pictures.
The dull and drab military dependents’ village has been transformed into an animated and lively location and is now recognized as one of the must-see spots in central Taichung City.
Huang Yung-fu was born in Hong Kong’s Kowloon. At 86 years old, he considers himself quite healthy. He says he doesn’t drink alcohol, doesn’t smoke, and doesn’t gamble. To kill time, he started painting and simply used the remains of the equipment from the art classes he attended when he was a child. Never would have he have imagined that so many people would come to appreciate his art, and he has drawn great pleasure from his paintings. He paints a little bit more every day, and now painting has become the main purpose of his life.
The borough chief said that after the “painted military dependents’ neighborhood” became well-known, visitors started to flow in during holidays. Some think that Huang’s style is close to that of self-taught painter Hung Tung and is worth preserving. However, the Ministry of National Defense thinks otherwise, and has commissioned the city government to redevelop the area. This means that these houses are going to be destroyed and the paintings will disappear. Since photographs of the paintings have already been taken, one possibility is to reproduce them in a park not far from the original location. The military dependents’ village can be found at Chun An Li, Taichung City.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU)
台中市春安里八十六歲老榮民黃永阜在眷村塗鴉彩繪，色彩繽紛亮麗，構圖純真可愛，充滿童趣，畫風類似素人畫家洪通，最近在網路爆紅。連馬來西亞、日、韓觀光客均慕名前來參觀，由於「彩繪眷村」未來將拆除，里長顏慶義接獲不少民眾反映，盼予以保留。
走進台中市忠勇路五十六巷靠近春安公園的「彩繪眷村」，長約四、五十公尺巷弄，地面、牆面密密麻麻畫滿各種人物、動植物，包括小鳥、水牛、飛機、原住民，連藝人張菲、豬哥亮、劉德華及白冰冰等人也都入畫，由於色彩繽紛亮麗，造型都像卡通人物，令人彷彿置身童話世界。
「彩繪眷村」創作者是八十六歲單身老榮民黃永阜，約兩年前，他拿著刷子及水泥漆塗鴉自娛，未料卻畫出獨特風格，深受附近嶺東大學學生喜愛，透過口耳相傳及有人將這些五彩繽紛畫作po上網，竟然在網路爆紅，吸引不少新人來拍婚紗照。
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