Come see how Taiwan has developed over a half-century through the eyes of veteran painter Vince Shih. A chronological exhibition of the renowned painter’s works is on display at the Taichung City Seaport Art Center until Aug. 24. The exhibit includes 125 of his paintings, documenting Shih’s formative years, concerns about Taiwanese society and the country, and finally his aspirations for finding the beauty of Taiwan again.
Shih’s exhibition “Chromatic Representations and Expressions of My Long and Arduous Life Journey” outlines the creative contexts of the artist’s entire life. The works are divided into five chronological sections, starting with paintings from high school when Shih first got turned on to painting, then university, when Shih observed the myriad of problems Taiwan faced as it transitioned from an agrarian to industrial society. The next section looks at the warm, familial paintings after Shih formed a family and his career took off. The fourth section includes paintings from Shih’s time in New York studying art, when he was dealt a shock by the foreign cultures he was exposed to there. Returning to Taiwan, Shih saw Taiwanese society released from the shackles of martial law, the economy soaring, incessant street protests and people lost in a desire for material possessions. The paintings included in the last section are filled with depictions of Taiwan’s vitality during this time when Shih traveled across the nation, exhaustively painting its barren mountains and unruly rivers and the beautiful human and scenic aspects of the island treasure called Formosa.
Shih says that in junior high school he was muddleheaded about the future. It was only because an art teacher named Chang Huan-tsai keenly admired and lauded his paintings that Shih decided to take the artist’s path for the rest of his life. After graduating from college, he wanted very much to go abroad to study painting, but his family was too poor. Shih stayed in Taipei and opened a studio where he taught painting classes instead. At this time, Taiwan was rapidly transitioning from a rural to urban landscape. The rise of authors advocating a native literature movement also sparked an intense literary war between Sinocentric authors and those pushing for a rural-oriented nativist literature. Shih jestingly says that this marks the beginning of the bitter battle between the blue and green political camps.
Photo: Yen Hung-chun, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者顏宏駿
Taiwan is a society of immigrants, Shih says, adding that the former one-party system allowed many Taiwanese to be treated unfairly. Shih says that he was no exception, but he views these setbacks as blessings in disguise. Shih uses his spiritual strength to make himself more resolute, work harder and seek glory for Taiwan. Shih hopes that artists concerned about the world will continue to shed light on social problems and never give up hope.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
跟著資深畫家施並錫看台灣半世紀的發展!知名畫家施並錫的編年展,目前正在台中市港區藝術中心展出,展期到八月廿四日,展出一百二十五件畫作,作品記錄施並錫的啟蒙、對台灣社會和國土的關心,以及懷抱重尋美麗台灣的心願。
Photo: Yen Hung-chun, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者顏宏駿
施並錫編年展「彩筆誌-行看千山萬水」,實則呈現他一路走來的創作脈絡,依年代演進分五大創作區塊,從高中時期的繪畫啟蒙,到大學時期觀察到台灣從農業社會邁向工商業社會產生的諸多問題,再到成家立業後,描寫溫馨親情,第四部分則是到紐約習畫,受異國文化衝擊,返台後,看到台灣社會脫離戒嚴桎梏,經濟大起飛,街頭運動不斷,民眾也在物質慾望中迷失,最後是描寫台灣的生命力,走遍全台,畫盡窮山惡水,也畫盡寶島美麗的人文景致。
施並錫說,國中時期的他,對未來懵懵懂懂,只因美術老師張煥彩對他的畫作頗為讚賞,他就往這條路不斷前進;大學畢業後,他很想出國習畫,但家中沒錢,他就留在台北市開畫室授課,此時台灣從鄉村邁向都市化,本土文學興起,本土作家與大中國意識作家展開激烈的鄉土文學論戰,他開玩笑稱,這是島內「藍綠惡鬥」濫觴。
施並錫表示,台灣是個移民社會,黨國體制讓許多台灣人遭受不公平的待遇,他也不例外,但他視挫折為「逆增上緣」,用精神力量讓自己更堅強、努力,讓台灣發光,他希望發揮藝術家「觀世之心」,點出社會問題,不放棄希望。
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者歐素美
(自由時報記者顏宏駿)
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