Moonlight Over the Island Affects People Watching the Sea by Tong-Chiao Chuang

Moonlight Over the Island Affects People Watching the Sea by Tong-Chiao Chuang

DATE｜2020 / 11 / 04（Wed.） - 12 / 13（Sun.）

Opening｜2020 / 11 / 06（Fri.）18 : 30

Forum｜2020 / 11 / 06（Fri.）19 : 00 - 20 : 30

Guest｜ Nobuo Takamori

Statement｜

CHUANG, Tong-Chiao’s solo exhibition Moonlight Over the Island Affects People Watching the Sea is Absolute Art Space’s seventh highlight of the 2020 annual exhibitions. Connecting the artist’s statement, the context, and the spirit of Absolute Art Space, our institutional curator Jhen-Kai Wang concluded four major aspects and characteristics for this exhibition. First, the artist took his inspirations from the images of “mountains” and “sea” in Taiwanese landscape. Second, the exhibition’s main subject Moonlight Over the Island Affects People Watching the Sea was actually taken from the name of a poem which the artist wrote in 2017. In other words, this created the intertextuality between the artist’s literary and artistic works. Third, The artist has been trained and been working as a curator as well. In this exhibition the artist’s professional thoughts in curating and creating can be seen connected. Last but not least, the spirit of Absolute Art Space has a strong interactive relationship with the works in this exhibition.

In the poem Moonlight Over the Island Affects People Watching the Sea, the artist organized his observations and thoughts after he returned to Taiwan from France. By repeatedly bringing up the different climates between Europe and Taiwan, and comparing Taiwanese daily lives and food with those in Europe, the artist emphasized a traveler’s searching and choosing between “home” and “elsewhere.” Naming this exhibition as the same topic of the poem is to respond to the exhibition’s lyricism, and to present the artist’s island-based viewpoint and his historical thoughts. Starting from the keywords such as “mountains,” “sea,” “island,” “fields,” betel nut trees,” “coconut trees” and “palm-family plants,” the artist aimed to explore deeper and further his identity toward “home” and “land,” and tried to figure out where exactly his own “dwelling,” or even spiritual “shelter” is.

The exhibition takes advantage of Absolute Art Space’s long and narrow space. Starting from the entrance lie the installation work Urban and Rural Tanks, and painting works Dwelling 06, Dwelling 07 and Everything Breathes Again 017. We hope the viewers to experience the cities, the mountains, the sea and the fields of the island. Next, in the middle and the space behind are the installation work Archipelago II, and painting works Dwelling 03, The Dream of Home 014, The Dream of Home 015, The Dream of Home 016, Spirit Temporary Shelter 05 and The Dream of Home 017. After showing the viewers the scenery of the outside world, we invite them to search deeper in mind their own imagination toward home.

About Tong-Chiao CHUANG｜

Born in 1981 in Taiwan. 2011, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts de Paris-Cergy, Diplôme National Supérieur d’Expression Plastique (DNSEP) 2010, Ernst Caramelle’s master class, State Fine Arts Academy, Karlsruhe, Germany, Guest student program 2009, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts de Paris-Cergy, Diplôme National d’Arts Plastiques(DNAP) 2003, Department of Plastic Art, DAYEH University, Taiwan, B.F.A

Solo exhibition｜

2020, Moonlight over the island Affects people watching the sea, Absolute Space for the Arts, Tainan, Taiwan 2019, Urban and Rural Tanks, Black Blank 215, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2017, Dwelling, MUMU Gallery, Tainan, Taiwan 2015, Inner Peace, Home, A Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 2012, Paysage signalétique, Atelier de Jardins de Formosa, Poitiers, France 2011, Landscape blueprint, (work in situ) Black blank art space, Taichung, Taiwan 2005, After the sentiment poetic, Dogpig Art Café, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Group exhibition(selected)｜

2018, 2018 Paper Art Project, MUMU Gallery, Tainan, Taiwan 2017, Paper Art 2017, MUMU Gallery, Tainan, Taiwan 2016, Wind from South, Muan Seungwoo Oh Museum of Art, Muan, South Korea 2016, Wind from South, Gallery Iang, Seoul, Korea 2016, New Perspective Art in Taiwan, county seaport art center, Taichung, Taiwan 2016, A Place of One’s Own, 2016 Exhibition ofJuming Museum collection, New Taipei City

Curating(selected)｜

In-house curator 2020, Everyday Life and Landscapes of the Island:Betel Nuts, Bananas, Sugar Canes, and Palms, Tainan Art Museum, Tainan, Taiwan (Co-curator: Nobuo Takamori ) 2019, Keep Art in Mind-The Art in Daily Life, Tainan Art Museum, Tainan, Taiwan