│EXHIBITION
“Fragmental Refinement” Chinese Ink Painting of the Present Age
Curator / Hsu Woan-Jen
“Fragmental Refinement” is an exhibition purposed to seek a future outlet for Chinese ink painting. Refuses to regard ink as a simply pure material, its target is to continuously promote the essential esthetics embedded in system of ink painting, and simultaneously conform with current temper and flow; in the premise of respecting both tradition and contemporary, it develops a brand-new ink painting that suits to 21century of Taiwan’s art. Stack up remarkable layers and depth of “Accumulated Inks” by the most conventional “Center Forward”, as if a Taoist guarding stove fire day and night devotedly discipline for the sake of refining the essential powders, he transpires spirit of a literati who sweeps straightly toward to the key-point of ink writing. Therefore, the exhibition is named “Fragmental Refinement” so as to illustrate the process how water could be illusively re-born by the mixture with inks.
Ink painting mainly represented by “painting of literati” eventually appears in the way of generally integral art after revolution of generations. Artistic value of “painting of literati” has its own system, however, ink painting seems to be difficultly preserved by few like Qi Bai-Shi, Huang Bin-Hong, Li Ke-Ran, etc. as for its development under tortuously external circumstance in the past a hundred year. Ink painting should not only weakly maintain the convention, but also actively innovate to initiate a new life; it should neither cut feet to fit the shoes of western screening for esthetics nor force to put western concept on the ink work with different system. The result of insisting on “connection” to the Western will make ink painting decline to the outlying trend becoming an exotic art to the Western, that could only follow after western esthetics but never get to close to.
“Accumulated Inks” style Huang Bin-Hong advocates might provide a channel to boost up. “Accumulated Ink” resolves the predicament of contemporary things hardly involved in ink painting, with getting rid of stereotype of anciently lifelessness, be able to naturally link with the reality. The thickness and depth generated could avoid abuse of tend to pompous on expressional ink-painting; “Central Forward” may keep unique consciousness of ink painting to hold its character undying due to follow “western ink-painting”.
Despite display works are in common feature of “Central Forward” and “Accumulated Inks”, manners of the topics are distinctly diverse. The topic of Wang Liang-Yin’s work is an ordinary “melon” with an insipid outlook at the first glance, but later find a great deal of layers manipulated in the work; Lu Hao-Yuan’s “pine’ with stiff and wiggling pose expresses ingenious layout and variation; Wu Chi-Tsung’s “moonlight” showing a simple image yet discloses a deep and far prospect; Wu Chi-Tao’s work with severe and elegant calligraphy displays a traditional subject in an unusual vitality through a pile of “Accumulated Inks”; Lin Yi-Shu draws a “ninja” in shape of an alien; Jhang San’s work genuinely betrays a powerful harmony from inner to outwards with intimate line-description; Chen Ruo Cian’s work makes an animated picture about undulate hill rocks by clear lines.
Works of “Accumulated Inks”, containing “Spirit of Ink”, additionally adorning with topics that comply with the modern language are the contents “Fragmental Refinement” wants to present. Because of “Spirit of Ink”, the value of principle could be confidently set up; because of particular timing of “Accumulated Inks”, the work could be granted with penetrating depth; because of stylish subject fitting to fashion words, the distance between paintings and audiences could be shortened. Thereupon, contemporary ink-painting exhibition of “Fragmental Refinement” is likely to find out a vent for ink-painting to innovate.
