One is an old master painter whose "Chineseness" has long been embraced by the French; one is a maverick ink painter who plays with the traditions of the urbane art form; the third is a multi-disciplinary artist who sees ink as the best medium of social critique. The unlikely trio -- Zao Wu-chi (
If there is any common denominator for the 18 ink paintings currently on show at Lin and Keng Gallery (
The title of the exhibition implies the artists' marginalized status in the contemporary-art scene. "We are like the leaders of minor tribes," Ni, the organizer of the show, said in an interview with the Taipei Times. According to Ni, in the past 10 years ink painting has been associated with mainland Chinese art traditions and stigmatized as "un-Taiwanese." Politics thus relegated the medium to the margins in Taiwan.
PHOTO COURTESY OF LIN AND KENG GALLERY
"That's probably why in Taiwan's major art events, like the Taipei Biennial, we hardly ever see ink works," Ni said.
Neither has the art form attracted much critical attention. While Very Fun Park, one of last year's contemporary-art extravaganzas, has inspired not a few essays by graduate students of art, nothing of the sort has happened to ink paintings.
Inexplicable for Ni, all this is beginning to change. Earlier this year, several major colleges held international seminars on Chinese ink paintings and the museums like Hong Si (鴻禧), Guan Du (關渡) and the National Palace Museum (故宮) have held large-scale ink-painting exhibitions. The usually installation-oriented Main Trend Art Space (大趨勢) is currently showing ink paintings by college students. All this happened in just a few months.
PHOTO COURTESY OF LIN AND KENG GALLERY
We may not be sure if the burgeoning trend is a nostalgic reaction against the critics and curators' over-indulgence of multi-media works and installations. For Yu and Ni, who have devoted many years to ink paintings, the vagaries of popular taste have no effect on their choice of medium.
In Taiwan's Westernized art education, Yu had no inclination for Chinese ink until he went abroad. "When you're in a foreign country, you will begin searching for the connection between yourself and your culture. You cannot possibly adopt some other culture, because, for a culture to make sense to you, it has to relate to your ancestors and your surroundings," he said.
Yu's new works on long scrolls are a continuation of his humorous landscapes inspired by Taoist meditation. Works like Without a Sound (
Well-known for his ridicule of Taiwan's political milieu and environmental decline, Ni deals with the ills of the environment brought on by thoughtless over-development in his Taiwanese Landscapes series. The mountains and fields in Paradise Lost (失樂園) seem ironed out while the stature of a construction worker seems unnervingly out of proportion. Meandering Over a Thousand Miles' (綿延千里) dark panel turns a familiar view of Taiwanese rice paddy into a crumbling and scattering barren earth.
Dealing with these unconventional subjects for Chinese ink paintings, Ni said that "the black and white of ink conveys a unique gravity and somberness. I have the same documentary purpose in mind as some photographers do when they insist on using black and white film," he said.
As the youngest of the three artists, Ni's idea of ink painting may indicate the medium's future direction in Taiwan's art scene.
"For the new generation, which has no nationalistic burden, ink is just a medium. We apply ink to our works simply because the quality of ink suits a particular subject," said Hsu Wan-chen (
April 28 to May 4 During the Japanese colonial era, a city’s “first” high school typically served Japanese students, while Taiwanese attended the “second” high school. Only in Taichung was this reversed. That’s because when Taichung First High School opened its doors on May 1, 1915 to serve Taiwanese students who were previously barred from secondary education, it was the only high school in town. Former principal Hideo Azukisawa threatened to quit when the government in 1922 attempted to transfer the “first” designation to a new local high school for Japanese students, leading to this unusual situation. Prior to the Taichung First
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
The Ministry of Education last month proposed a nationwide ban on mobile devices in schools, aiming to curb concerns over student phone addiction. Under the revised regulation, which will take effect in August, teachers and schools will be required to collect mobile devices — including phones, laptops and wearables devices — for safekeeping during school hours, unless they are being used for educational purposes. For Chang Fong-ching (張鳳琴), the ban will have a positive impact. “It’s a good move,” says the professor in the department of
Article 2 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文) stipulates that upon a vote of no confidence in the premier, the president can dissolve the legislature within 10 days. If the legislature is dissolved, a new legislative election must be held within 60 days, and the legislators’ terms will then be reckoned from that election. Two weeks ago Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposed that the legislature hold a vote of no confidence in the premier and dare the president to dissolve the legislature. The legislature is currently controlled
RSS