2023 Next Art Tainan : BIFURCATION OF CONFLUENCE

2023 Next Art Tainan : BIFURCATION OF CONFLUENCE Curator｜HU Chao-Sheng Artist｜ CHEN Chun-Yu（Award Recipient Artist）× CHANG Wen-Hsuan（Invited Artist） Date｜2023.03.16 (Thu.) - 2023.04.16 (Sun.) Opening & Forum｜2023.03.19 (Sun.) 14 : 00 & 14 : 30 Guest｜ CHUANG Wei-Tzu ​ ● Award Recipient Artist / Chen Jun-Yu Born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 1989, Chen Jun-Yu currently works and lives in Taichung. Chen Jun-Yu's creative process follows observations of the minutiae of reality, corresponding with an exaggerated (impossible) realization. Grounded in pragmatic and honest problem-solving, Chen's approach does not lie in the artist's intent, but humorously contemplates irrelevant nodes, those leaks of morality, ethics, and societal imagination that need reconfiguration. ​ Experience 2013- Little sexy young pig project 2017 Kingston university MA art & space 2012 Department of Material Arts and Design, Tainan National University of the Arts Exhibitions 2021 "Phantasmapolis: 2021 Asian Art Biennial", National Taiwan Museum, Taichung, Taiwan 2021 "Metaphors about Islands", Waley Art, Taipei, Taiwan 2020 "Longci Light Festival", Tainan, Taiwan 2020 "Walking Dead, Meme, Bad Weather", Digital Art Center, Taichung, Taiwan 2019 "South Sour Water / Performance and Visual Art Festival", Waley Art, Taipei, Taiwan 2018 "Sisyphus ver 2.0", National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts Digiark, Taichung, Taiwan ​ ● Invited Artist / Zhang Wen-Xuan Born in Changhua in 1991. Zhang Wen-Xuan's artistic practice questions institutionalized historical narrative structures through re-reading, rewriting, and constructing alternative scenarios. He simultaneously exposes power struggles between different entities hidden in history narratives, revealing different powers, and turning society's imagination into a condensed and humorous representation. He has held the long-term project "Writing FACTory" since 2018. He has received awards such as Taipei Award, Kaohsiung Award, and Lin Yutang Literature Award. His works have been exhibited in Taiwan, China, South Korea, the United States, Singapore, Germany, Mexico, and other countries. Education 2019- Doctoral Program in Artistic Practice and Critical Research, Department of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts 2018 M.F.A. Graduate Institute of Trans-disciplinary Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan 2017-2018 Exchange Program, Kunsthochschule Kassel, Germany 2012 B.F.A. Department of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan Solo Exhibitions 2021 "Lecture Performance Syllabus", Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan 2016 "The Structure of Taiwanese Histories", Fotoaura Institute of Photography, Tainan, Taiwan 2015 "Are We Being Possessed Too Much", Freedom Men Art Apartments, Taichung, Taiwan ​ Group Exhibitions 2022 "Making Worlds: An Imagineering Project", MOCA Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan 2022 "FOAMS: Auralization", Vital, Space, Taichung, Taiwan 2022 "(de)phallocentrism", TKG+, Taipei, Taiwan 2021 "Art Histories of a Forever War: Modernism between Space and Home", Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan 2021 "The Perfect Flaw", Huayu Art Centre, Sanya, China 2021 "YOU EXIST, I EXIST", Absolute Space for the Arts, Tainan, Taiwan 2020 "Re: Play", Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab, Taipei, Taiwan 2020 "MaytoDay", Asia Culture Center (ACC), Gwangju, South Korea 2020 "Museum Lab of Lives in Disorder", Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab, Taipei, Taiwan 2020 "May Co-sensus: Demo-stream in Democracy", Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan 2019 "Island Tales: Taiwan and Australia | Taipei←→Perth", Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan 2019 "Into the Crevices of Imagination", TKG+, Taipei, Taiwan 2019 "Rotating Exploded View Diagram of Historiography", Galerie Nichido, Taipei, Taiwan 2019 "Neither black/red/yellow nor woman", Times Art Center Berlin, Berlin, Germany 2019 "Talking Drums Radio", TheCube Project Space, Taipei, Taiwan 2018 "2018 Taipei Art Awards", Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan 2018 "2018 Taiwan Biennial: Wild Rhizome", National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan 2018 "Trans-Justice: Para-Colonial @Technology", MOCA Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan 2018 "2 Weeks #2: Writing FACTory", Taipei Contemporary Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan 2017 "Discordant Harmony: Observations of Artistic Practices in East Asia at the Transition between the 1980s and the 1990s", Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing, China 2017 "There after Here: Performing a Verb#3 kiss or kill? The body needs a verb to rehearse within a biography", Vernacular Institute, Mexico City, Mexico 2017 "And Now There Are All-Mystery Cases in Contemporary Art", Kaohsiung Museum Of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2016 "Discordant Harmony", Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan 2016 "Amnesia and Malevich's Pharmacy", Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan 2016 "Mark", Crane Gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2015 "Everyday Life", Kaohsiung Museum Of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2015 "The Flesh", Chini Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 2015 "Kaohsiung Awards", Kaohsiung Museum Of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2015 "2015 Outstanding Art Prize: This is not a poisoned apple", Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan 2014 "Fotoaura Video Theater", Fotoaura Institute Of Photography, Tainan, Taiwan 2013 "XIN XIN DOT", Taipei, Taiwan 2013 "Super Working: Displacement Zero", Underground Museum, Taipei, Taiwan 2013 "The Young Voice", Fu-Xing Barn, Changhua, Taiwan 2012 "e04", Underground Museum, Taipei, Taiwan 2012 "SCENE ONE", Nan-Pei Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 2011 "Pure Nature", Underground Museum, Taipei, Taiwan Screening 2017 "34. Kasseler Dokfest", Kassel, Germany 2017 "Musrara Mix Festival 17", Jerusalem, Israel 2017 "Video Folkwang", Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany 2015 "Precarious Self-Archiving", Library Park in Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, Korea 2015 "inToAsia : Time-based Art Festival 2015", Queens Museum, New York, USA Curatorial Projects 2021 "On the Mysterious Self-Shackled Island the Benshi Makes Noises", Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan 2021 "Pacific Pirate#2:Temporary Autonomous Zone", online research-based residency program, Taiwan and Mexico 2021 "Su Beng Memorial, Xinzhuang, Taiwan 2020 "The Act of Revolt And A Pen 103 Years Old" on the occasion of "Assembly of Communities: MIX", MOCA Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan 2019 "Pacific Pirate", Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan 2019 "Histories of Nylon", Nylon Cheng Memorial Museum, Taipei, Taiwan Awards 2021 Finalist, Huayu Youth Award 2018 Honorable Mention Award, Taipei Art Awards 2015 Kaohsiung Award, Kaohsiung Awards 2015 Outstanding Art Prize 2013 Beitou Winking Public Art Project 2012 The Second Prize, Lin Yutang Literary Prize ​ Residencies 2021 ADAM Project, Taipei Performing Arts Center, Taipei, Taiwan 2019 NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA) Residencies Program, Singapore 2017 "There after Here: Performing a Verb", Vernacular Institute, Mexico City, Mexico Collection 2015 Kaohsiung Awards ​ ​ Curatorial Statement Curator / Hu Chao-Sheng ​ The starting points of many civilizations in history are often situated amidst mountains and rivers. As a culturally diverse nation, Taiwan, like the convergence of mountains and rivers, gives rise to a vibrant and dynamic artistic environment. The "2023 Tainan New Arts Award" showcases works by 10 winning artists and 14 invited artists from across the country. With diverse creative media and a range of focal themes, the exhibition is grounded in the unique mechanism of the New Arts Award, presented in various dialogical contexts across ten galleries and art spaces in Tainan. ​ The curatorial theme, "Convergence at a Crossroads," signifies the multifaceted issues presented by young artists, reflecting contemporary aesthetics, generational perspectives, and socio-cultural dimensions. This multifaceted synthesis serves as a clue, a reality, and a future. The process is akin to unraveling a cocoon, allowing us to glimpse how unique issues of concern to the younger generation are manifested in their artistic creations. The significance of convergence also generates spaces for pluralistic divergence, emanating a multitude of unforeseeable aesthetic dimensions. Similar to the operation of the existing New Arts Award mechanism, through the dialogue between young creators and artists from different regions, the exhibition opens up an evolving creative system, addressing various topics and forms, bridging the gap between art and society. Simultaneously, it aims to inject a different reference point into the local artistic community and individual creators. ​ Most of the award-winning artists in this edition draw from visual cultural experiences, with several extending their creative paths through "artistic questions." Huang Li-Ying's exhibited watercolor paintings at the Watercolor Art Workshop depict the form of peculiar rocks using the reflective properties of pencil graphite, presenting a metaphysical contemplation of the appearance shared between the artwork and the viewer. Japanese artist Hirakawa Yuki employs crisp imagery to transform the changing light and shadow beneath trees, resonating with Huang Li-Ying's paintings. Similarly focusing on "light," Hu Jin-Xiang presents an interactive light and shadow installation at the Zui Mei Space, reflecting on the relationship between humans and technological networks. Wang Xi-An centers his painting around halos of light, depicting the depth of the sky and nebulae through brushstrokes. "Connection" deconstructs the relationship between light and color, combining light and shadow installations with performance to narrate different forms of the six stages of life. ​ Serving as a revitalized old house, the Wan Gallery's Zhang Shan-Xue attempts to echo the large number of potted plants in the courtyard, tracing the emotional attachment and enthusiasm for ferns, retracing the geographic pathways of ferns during the glacial period. Huang Lan-Ya employs vibrant acrylic materials to whimsically construct an imaginary beautiful forest garden. Using ink techniques, Hu Qing-Wen presents the afternoon sunlight streaming onto a balcony, reflecting in moments of potted plant branches, window flowers, and tiles, quietly revealing personal emotional experiences. Ji Pei-Chen of the Aesthetic Nonpareil Museum paints Taiwanese signage culture onto European cities photographed during his time in France, creating a unique city jungle landscape. Li Yong-Zhi attempts to deconstruct the neon signs dominating the cityscape led by consumerism, shaping nostalgic aesthetics beyond the replacement of urban landscapes. Chen Bo-Yuan, exhibited at the SoK Art, presents contemporary ink through new media, depicting the changing climate as planes fly through layers of clouds. Yu Shi-Fu uses kinetic elements to simulate the hybrid complex of birds and aircraft. ​ In today's state of information explosion, the advent of the "post-truth era," driven by social media and key opinion leaders (KOL), has led online culture to guide the development of mass culture in contemporary society. The line between reality and online has become increasingly blurred due to the mass reproduction of images. Just as seen in Guan Le Asher Art Museum's Gu Meng-Xuan, by repeatedly expanding and topologically mapping war and disaster images from news and the internet, a macroscopic perception similar to traditional landscape painting is drawn. Wen Jia-Ning focuses on the body shaped by media images, and provides visual interpretations through distortion, fiction, and dressing. The new media art team 2ENTER (Er Jin) from the Galleria de l'Accademia of ABSOLUT SPACE recodes large amounts of virtual visual images into physical "digital specimens" using real-time data and image collages in a game engine, creating a mixed data landscape. Cai Yi-Ru's painting extracts symbols from animation, social platforms, and communication software, presenting the visual experiences of individuals at different stages and screen interfaces. ​ Continuing the exploration of the internet and information culture, some artists also focus on the exploration of art's social and political aspects. Yang Jie-Huai's exploration of gender and internet culture reflects the ambiguous stance of individual desires and power hierarchies. Tseng Yi-Hsin starts from the mechanism of female viewing and the subject of gaze, reflecting on the unequal relationship between gender and politics through popular culture images. Arranged at the Absolute Space, Chen Jun-Yu humorously proposes hypothetical solutions to serious contemporary social issues. Zhang Wen-Xuan's exhibited works mimic the teaching methods of successful motivational speakers, suggesting the context of democratic politics under the narrative of Asian countries.

Japanese award-winning artist Hu Mikiya utilizes the high ceilings of the Tainan Art Museum to showcase large soft sculptures combining symbols of Taiwanese and Okinawan cultures, reflecting the span of cultural fusion in a globalized world. Under the concept of globalization and cultural mobility, three diverse artists engage in dialogue: Fang Wei-Wen's flat paintings extract cultural codes that appear in his fragmented life experiences, presenting a fluid and unfixed world; Zhuang Pei-Xin reencodes a large number of virtual visual images into physical "digital specimens"; Chen Cheng-Yu attempts to liken information, objects, and images circulating in the world to "clouds," materializing the concept and composing a chaotic contemporary landscape. ​ The 11th Tainan New Arts Award, "Convergence at a Crossroads," presents the ingenious works of 24 artist groups, including outstanding artists from both domestic and international backgrounds. It is hoped that these creators with diverse backgrounds will gather in Tainan, branching out heterogeneous and diverse voices. The design and execution mechanisms of the New Arts Award distinguish it from other Taiwanese awards, with one of its primary goals being to promote artists' connections to the art market. Simultaneously, it aims to combine the marketing and promotional resources of public and private sectors, consolidate cultural energy from various sources, draw from Tainan's historical heritage, highlight the city's aesthetic brand, and unfold captivating exhibitions at ten different locations in the city.