[Genghis Khan on the Prairie] is a piece of Tsong's A Connected World Series.
[Genghis Khan on the Prairie] features a horizontal conjunction of three canvases as a metaphor for the vast Hailar prairie in Inner Mongolia. Genghis Khan appears as a man of steel in the protruding canvas at the upper right of this work, depicted with white lines against a black background. Such a contrasting depiction not only echoes his masculine, unyielding image, but also resembles the Chinese-opera facial makeup of a male military role who is venting his anger.
The Genghis Khan drawn by Tsong Pu is placed on the historical border again, as if he is still dithering whether to attack or to retreat — if the history has come full circle, how would Genghis Khan do? Would he make the same decision? The vast prairie humbles the lonely Genghis Khan. In the course of history, no great man was spared the fate of being trivial, while a petty person may become a hero in times of great turmoil.
Tsong Pu’s career as an artist has spanned nearly 40 years since he returned from Spain in 1981, bringing him an iconic status in the Taiwanese contemporary art scene. More specific, he is not only a minimalist artist in the spotlight, but also a bellwether for material and ideational innovation in the pluralistic genealogy of Taiwanese contemporary art. His achievements and reputation rest as much upon his long-term forward-looking horizons for creation, as upon his brilliant, sui generis philosophy of art evolved from his prolific career over the past four decades.