Kuo’s works in this period visualized the crises lurking in Taiwanese politics, economy, mass media and families, so as to alert the multitude to the shambles around them. Titled “St. Taiwan,” this art series was his ironic criticism mixed with disapproval.
In these paintings, the print fabric-made masks exclusive to the figures prevented their true colors from being recognized, insofar as to project their perfect public images. Serving as their effective implement to fit into society, such a camouflage nonetheless showed that their social survival is little more than a condition of misery. Commonly seen in occidental religious iconography, the “golden halo” behind each figure’s head constituted a major element dispensing accolade and criticism simultaneously, which exactly echoed Kuo’s dialectical view.
J. C. Kuo’s oeuvre tends to be sharply critical in style with common and direct artistic expression, addressing contemporary issues (e.g., the gap between haves and have-nots, excessive consumption, religious myths, the decline of traditional cultures, the interpersonal estrangement, and the rampant popular media) arising from the political development after the lifting of martial law and the social change induced by the economic boom in Taiwan.
