The young artist Hou Chun-ming (
Trying to come to terms with a recent divorce, he reveals his emotional pain. His installation of deeply private thoughts and dream imagery is a way for Hou to exorcise his innermost demons, but this exhibition, instead of being a probing exploration into the human psyche, is more like a transitory passage. It lacks the universality of his ear-lier work.
In the main room, a large wooden spiral structure consists of vertical wooden strips attached firmly to the ground and ceiling. Affixed to the strips, slightly below eye-level, are book-sized boxes numbered in chronological order. Following the path of the spiral, the viewer reads the hand-written texts on the doors of the 83 boxes and opens them to peer inside at Hou's nightmarish dream imagery rendered in crayon, ink or watercolor on paper.
PHOTO COURTESY OF HANART GALLERY
Like walking a Buddhist mantra, the one-on-one meditative interaction with the art leads the viewer into the center of the spiral. The diary-like texts written in a stream-of-consciousness manner conjures up Hou's "inner child" and reflects his turmoil experienced as an adult.
Hou shares an affinity with the unnerving self-portraits of Antonin Artaud, the creator of "the theater of cruelty" (1930s). Razor-sharp tongues jut out of existential mouths, female talons grasp castrating scissors, Medusa-like heads coldly stare at their male prey, soaring eagles grasp decapitated, bleeding heads, men urinate fire, and landscapes ravished by war. These are some of the horrific images envisioned by Hou. Life on Earth is hell and Hou seems to say that sex is a battleground and one of life's most vicious forces.
One weak point of the show is a series of quick sketches and finger paintings completed during therapy, and displayed at the entrance to a smaller exhibition room. To treat all the marks made by an artist like a "holy relic" feeds into the notion of "artistic genius" and cheapens the overall vision of the show.
In a huge note pinned to the wall, Hou beseeches the viewer to help him by not criticizing him, but to see and share his work. Like the traditional Chinese artist, Hou has always tried to stimulate contemplative reflection in the viewer. He has also strove to help change Taiwanese society through his art. This time, he is asking for help.
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