As someone who was born in Tainan, studied in Japan and France, and researched the uniqueness of the Aboriginal culture on Orchid Island in the 1930s, Yen Shui-long (1903-1997) is quite unusual in the history of modern art in Taiwan. He was apparently an artist who went against the mainstream. When many artists were striving to make a name for themselves through exhibitions, Yen was off deep in the mountains near the ocean documenting the art and cultures of Taiwan’s Aborigines.
Yen’s early works followed the late impressionist style of the West — simple, refined, with an intense contrast among warm colors — a painting style that transmits a sunny and warm style specific to Taiwan. He spent his entire life pursuing a refined and well-executed style that had a poetic and romantic flavor. Yen used southern Taiwan’s bright sunny colors to represent the energy of social life in Taiwan, the lifting up of the boat on Orchid Island as a symbol of its ancient elegance, as well as bright warm hues filled with infinite concern for everything in his surroundings.
Yen’s artistic achievements span several fields, including painting, industrial art, commercial design, public art and city planning. The exhibition of Yen Shui-long’s works currently on display at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum — “The Public Spirit — Beauty in the Making” — is divided into three broad categories representing his life’s work: elegant Aboriginal works, simple life aesthetic works, and modern metropolitan images. There are over 200 works on display, including 92 oil paintings, around 70 drawings and prints, and around 40 industrial art design and advertising works. The exhibition will last until Feb. 26 next year.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY KYLE JEFFCOAT)
Photo: Chen Hsien-yi, Taipei Times
照片: 自由時報記者陳賢義
出生於台南,曾赴日本及法國深造,一九三0年代便深入蘭嶼研究原住民文化特色。在台灣美術史上,顏水龍(一九0三—一九九七),是非常特殊,也可以說是反主流的一位藝術家。當許多畫家努力在展覽會場上留名時,他卻深入山地海邊,記錄原住民的藝術與文化。
顏水龍早年作品承襲西方後期印象派風格,造型簡鍊,用色對比強烈而溫暖,畫風傳達出台灣特有的陽光與熱度。終其一生在油畫作品追尋簡練俐落的造型,詩意浪漫的氣氛。他以南台灣陽光的色彩代表台灣風土的熱量,蘭嶼昂揚的船身代表古老的優雅,明亮溫暖的色調中蘊含著對身邊周遭萬物無限的關懷。
顏水龍的藝術成就橫跨眾多領域,包括繪畫、工藝、商業設計、公共藝術及都市規劃等。北美館以「走進公眾.美化台灣」為主軸,推出顏水龍特展,將其一生代表作品分為優雅的原住民世界、素樸的生活美學、現代的都會形象等大類,展出作品約兩百餘組件,包括油畫九十二件、素描與版畫約七十組件、工藝設計與廣告設計約四十組件。展期至明年二月二十六日。
(自由時報記者凌美雪)
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
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